HONG KONG fragrant harbour

HOME

Gallery

Night Life

Climate

Landmarks

Temples

Temples

On July 1, 1997 Hong Kong was handed over to the People's Republic of China by the United Kingdom. The old Legislative Council of Hong Kong, elected under Chris Patten's measure, was replaced by the Beijing-appointed temporary Legislative Council. Tung Chee Hwa became the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Some of the changes were purely symbolic: All public offices now flew the flags of the PRC and the Hong Kong SAR. The Union Jack now flies only outside the British Consulate. Many schools would now teach in Putonghua, or Mandarin Chinese, in parallel to English. English is still an official language (see Hong Kong Basic Law) and is still being taught in all schools. Queen Elizabeth II's portrait disappeared from banknotes, postage stamps and public offices. As of 2003, many pre-1997 coins are still in circulation. The 'Royal' title was dropped from almost all organisations that had been granted it, with the exception of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. Legal references to the 'Crown' were replaced by references to the 'State', and barristers who had been appointed Queen's Counsel would now be known as Senior Counsel. Public holidays changed, with the Queen's Official Birthday and other British-inspired occasions being replaced by Chinese National Day and Hong Kong SAR Establishment Day. In other respects, many things remained unchanged:

Site Managed by waynekennedy@graffiti.net