A Concise History Of Hong Kong was a prequel to one of the most fascinating places I have ever traveled to. Going through history class, and growing up, I had heard many stories of Hong Kong, China, Britain, and Japan, but I never realized how intertwined they truly were and how their stories were really told. John Carroll did a remarkable job setting the scene for what Hong Kong was, where they had been, and how they made it through all of it and came out with their own identity.
Hong Kong is a bustling cosmopolitan city with many distinct features that separate it from a traditional Chinese territory. Hong Kong or the Fragrant Harbor is on the southernmost coast, situated in between the Pearl River Estuary and the South China Sea.
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In reality, the picture in my head could not have been more wrong.
Just after arrival on January 2, 2016, we got to really experience the gigantic proportion of the Hong Kong airport as compared to our little hub in Tulsa. After our time in the airport, we finally got on our journey to Kowloon Peninsula to our hotel. The MTR ride was very enlightening, and I remember feeling like a child in awe and merriment at all the fantastic sites that were before my eyes. I took a deep breath and promised myself that regardless of what happened and no matter what I would not ruin my trip with any negative thoughts. Professor Weaver reinforced this when he said, “you do not have to like it, but I encourage you to try it, and no whining”. I was going to try and replay everything that I had read and researched prior to the trip and see if I could remember the significance of the sites. Making my top ten list was a great way of making us choose what we felt was important for our journey and then going back and marking them off one by one.
Sunday, January 3, 2016, we were up early after a very long day of travel and a short night’s sleep. We gathered as a group and ventured to C3 church Hong Kong. We met a phenomenal woman, Ming who was delightful from the first smile and handshake we received. Ming was a positive and a very devoted follower of God. Her Christianity spewed from her pores, but she was never in your face. She was a genuine and friendly as anyone
policies. Over the years, Hong Kong has been considered the “door to China”, meaning that
Chung’s adoptive mother appeared to overcome her sense of otherness through the practicing of multiple religions. While this practice may be frowned upon in some societies, Chung’s mother was able to do so without being chastised and, through doing so, was able to keep a free-spirited and independent part of herself. By suiting the Christian, Buddhist, and Confucianist to her needs and beliefs, Chung’s adoptive mother received what Chung described as “life giving power.” Chung’s biological mother also overcame her sense of otherness through religion by finding peace and comfort through religious beliefs. Chung’s biological mother was underprivileged and mentally unwell; her religion became an opiate for her pain (WSIR, 30). Lived experiences can help someone overcome a sense of otherness by allowing them to, at least occasionally, break the binds of the oppression they’re facing, and view themselves as independent
Churches and religious sites across China became a unifying force for discussion and connections. The foundations of Chinese culture had been stripped away leaving people alone and confused. An personal example in “The Souls of China” that truly exemplifies what religion means to the people of China is the explanation from Wang Yi. Growing up in the Chinese countryside, Wang Yi had little education and money. Wang Yi recounts a group of ants stuck in the rain away from their home, and decides to carry them home over the water. He describes the sensation he got from this action saying “I felt like their savior…I was only seven years old but felt I had done something really meaningful.” (341). After giving hi sermon, Wang Yi asks the Christians
I was six years old at the time. We drove to the red and white concrete house and walked in. I had been to this house several times, but immediately I felt that this time was different. There were many people, all Chinese, and many of whom I did not recognize. The atmosphere was unfamiliar and foreboding - it was quiet and people talked in hushed tones. We were ushered downstairs and were sat down on cushioned metal folding chairs in a moldy and poorly lit basement, next to a family who I didn’t recognize. Why the basement, quite possibly the least inviting room in the house, was chosen for the event I will never know. Because I was young, and my Chinese was not spectacular, I did not understand much of what was saying. What I do remember is everyone repeating “Amen” after the family friend spoke for a while. The mood seemed somber and serious, so I chimed in as well to match the others. In reality, I didn’t know what was going on. Biblical references and names were - and still are - lost on me. Because I was raised without believing in a higher being, I didn’t take much away from the speech, but I tried my best to stifle my yawns and resist poking my brother out of boredom. After the service was over, the speaker handed us chocolates (possibly the highlight of the event) and we filed out of the
“Knowing how the men in the water died is not the same thing as knowing why they died” (101). The men of the USS Indianapolis were put through a very traumatic event that lasted for days and will haunt them for the rest of their lives. The men from the ship had so much going against them that made it harder to survive the horrid event. There are many reasons on why the men of the USS Indianapolis died and also for why the few survived.
“Dear Scott, you are about to embark on the ride of your life, so, buckle up dude,” writes author Scott Kronick in the opening line of a letter his younger self. “…When you have the chance to move to China in 1995, jump at this. It will be an inflection point in your life you will not forget.” Kronick, CEO of Ogilvy Public Relations, Asia Pacific, the leading public relations consultancy in Asia, has lived in China for nearly two decades, during which he’s experienced tremendous social, economic and personal change. The Lighter Side of China, while diminutive in weight, is more than an autobiography or travelogue, it’s Kronick’s professionally refined “CliffsNotes” on how to survive 20 years as a foreigner in modern China. They key to it all, to happiness in business and at home, Kronick explains, is to continuously “seek to understand.”
In the 1840s a young man from Guangdong named Hong Xiuquan (1813-1864) created his own version of Christianity and made converts in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. Hong believed that he was the Younger Brother of Jesus and that his mission, and that of his followers, was to cleanse China of the Manchus and others who stood in their way and “return” the Chinese people to the worship of the Biblical
The history of Hong Kong and the opium trade are “intertwined”, as Christopher Munn states (107). From its beginning in the nineteenth century, the opium trade in Hong Kong, as counterparts throughout the colonies of Southeast Asia, was managed by a monopoly or farm system. The opium monopoly not only contributed a large portion of revenue to the colonial government, but also helped foster a Chinese business elite class with wealth and political influence in the Chinese community and the colony, as John Carroll wrote in his book Edge of Empires (29).
It was a great chance to have a Chinese couple in therapy for the first time in my practical experience as a therapist. I had studied about the Chinese culture during one of the classes, but I did not interact with one of this culture in therapy setting. I come from one of the oldest countries in the world, Egypt like China as well. The Egyptian church is also one of the oldest churches in the world and the Christianity in Egypt history back to the first century. We know that Christians are located in the Middle East, Europe, and the New World, but we do not have any mental image for Christians as a Chinese.
The British used Hong Kong's geographical position, which marked it out as an amazing center for commerce and finally gave it the opportunity to become the center of trade that it could, therefore revolutionizing their economy by bringing in money from multiple countries and companies across the world (Mills 372). However, as is seen in the chart published by Medhurst in 1853 (see Annex 1), the use of Hong Kong as a major port was, especially, creating multitudes of trade with neighboring ports in China. This was seen to such an extent never previously thought could happen through Hong Kong. As they were sending most of their shipments through Hong Kong, which was so closely positioned to China, the relationship, economically speaking, between Hong Kong and neighboring ports such as Canton and Amoy, grew substantially. These ties would remain for all of Britain's rule over Hong Kong,
The Canadians at the Battle of Hong Kong failed due to the insufficient training of the soldiers, which impaired their fighting effectiveness. When selecting troops to deploy to Hong Kong, Major General H. D. G. Crerar chose two infantry battalions, the Winnipeg Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles of Canada, from a list of units deemed unsuited for deployment. “Instead, Crerar chose the Royal Rifles of Canada and the Winnipeg Grenadiers from category C, defined by Lawson as “those units which, due to either recent employment or insufficient training, are not recommended” to be deployed at the present time.”[ Pages 13-14, The Damned] Due to the recent deployment of these troops to Jamaica and Newfoundland, and their need for refresher training,
Currently, she is a Northwestern Ph. D student and studies at the School of Social Polity. She attends the Northwestern Chinese Christian Fellowship every Friday at the Annenberg Hall.
Hong Kong is an island off the coast of mainland China. It was a British colony until 1997 when it was officially handed back to China. Even though Hong Kong has its own constitution and currency, China still controls its defense and foreign policy. Hong Kong 's constitution, the Basic Law, states that Hong Kong will co-exist with China as "one country, two systems" for 50 years after the handover of power in 1997. Due to expire in 2047, it states that the city "shall safeguard the rights and freedoms of the residents." One of the tenets contained in the Basic Law was the right to develop its own democracy. However, Beijing keeps reinterpreting this document and recently released a White Paper reaffirming its “complete jurisdiction” over
The Hongwu Emperor believed that agriculture was the basis of the wealth of an Empire rather than the industry.
Hong Kong,as one of the world's leading international financial centres,it has a major capitalist service economy characterized by low taxation and free trade. It is known of the world's most services-oriented economy, with services sectors accounting for more than 90% of GDP.