I think it's pretty crazy how crucial the British colonization of Hong Kong was to the Cantonese people.
This a gross and controversial generalization I'm making, but the vanguard of Chinese culture and science clustered
around the banks of the Yangtze in the Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces.  I often wonder how China would look today
had the British pursued Shanghai instead.  I am not a Brit lover, and they really fucked things up all over the world (Balfour declaration anyone?), but their legal traditions and commercial civility layed a strong foundation for HK.

As a result, the Cantonese enjoy a special place in the world view of the Chinese.  I mean, within the Han Chinese ethnic universe, thereare many different flavors.  People in Beijing look and act a helluva lot different than Shanghainese who differ from Hong Kongers who differ from Taiwanese, and the list goes on.  But the most recognizable Chinese people in the Western world are Cantonese film stars,
and by extension, the Cantonese earn the perhaps begrudging respect of mainlanders who don't have access to Western money, Western style, the English language, internet freedoms, political freedoms, etc.

And in a particularly interesting twist, because the HK film industry essentially dictates standards of beauty, the Cantonese "look" is now viewed favorably in China.  Southern Chinese women were not exactly renowned for their beauty back in the day.  They were shorter, had smaller features, and spoke a guttural language, and were not particularly educated.  With Hong Kong's emergence in the twentieth century though, diets became better, Cantonese girls outgrew their cohorts on the mainland, knew how to speak English, got superior education, learned how to put themselves together.  In short, to use an American colloquialism, they got it going on!

I think there's no doubt British rule over HK has benefitted the people in many respects in the present day. In some ways I think it has also helped the Chinese Culture to carry on in more traditional forms - i.e without the influence of communism.
Once Britain was ruled by the Romans and hence was influenced by them - it all goes round in a circle over thousands of years.
Hong Kong people are much softer than mainlanders - they seem to have less worries. I think life has a lot morechallenges for mainlanders.
Cantonese is the language we hear most of in London - because most of the Chinese that have settled are Cantonese.
As far as the women are concerned - HK women have great legs man! But I just love the mainland hotel girls - many of them are so damn cute it breaks my heart.

Thanks for reading my remarks, but less worries?  Hong kong people are the most uptight and driven people I know.  Then again, I know mostly good students who went on to become investment bankers and management consultants.

I have to agree that HK girls have some great legs.  I wonder how that happened.  But their faces are not traditionally beautiful.  Consider that many famous HK actresses like Maggie Cheung and Carina Lau are not of Cantonese stock but rather come from Shanghai and other big cities on the mainland.

Anyway, I just wanted to point out how a modest, rice-growing subgroup like the Cantonese evolved under Western rule to become themost wealthy and cosmopolitan subgroup in all of China.  During the early twentieth century perhaps the mainlanders looked down on the Cantonese for "bending over" to Western rule, but look how the tables have turned.

Aah... I believe the table is still turning though.

doing business in China can be an adventure. Often times a most frustrating adventure. For many years I found the biggest difference (in terms of business) between HK people and Mainland people, is that for the most part, HK people were very keen to be "seen" to do things professionally and ethically. Their counterparts in the Mainland didn't seem to have the same drive to be perceived that way and HK business people often spoke condescendingly of the Mainland Chinese business people about that specific area.

What we have all seen now however, is the deliberate and manageable way China has opened itself up to the rest of the World. As the Chinese economy has thrived, there is a great sense of pride amongst Chinese people everywhere including Hong Kong. Nothing unites like success and wealth...

The prosperity of China, in some cases, has come at the expense of the West. Many multi national companies have been told by their suppliers to "find another supplier because we need all our capacity for the domestic market". Several of Nike's shoe factories have refused orders because they need all their capacity for Li Ning.

Despite all this "improvement" and growth in the Mainland, the increasing number of middle class people and China's "improved" transparency, I still know lots of Mainland Chinese who come to HK for short stay holidays specifically to buy their luxury goods.

When I ask how common is this? They tell me very common. When I ask why? They tell me it's because they simply dont trust buying that kind of thing in China... not even from the LV shop in Shanghai!

It's interesting that with all of China's growth and increase in confidence, and with the days of Hong Kong being the "necessary" gateway into China being behind us... there are still things that Chinese people would rather do in HK.

Can be contributed to the residual effects of British Colonisation? Yes I think so.

Will these people still prefer to buy some luxury items in HK instead of Mainland China beyond "1 country 2 systems"??? Interesting but I think not.

[ Last edited by  TonyToro at 5-4-2011 22:00 ]

interesting if you have hk it is nice to know you are like a coin which has two sides. hi hk person your my friend let me talk smack behind your back.

nice to know that you are educating young ppl and you log onto an adult web site. good lord we are dealing with a person who is probably on america's sex offender list.

there are a ton of hot hk chicks. my living proof is my fb. but then again you haven't been to LKF at night cause you can't afford it or no one wants to go with you

remember hong kongers you were a rice growing subgroup.

yes mr gay name i like how you chose a name after the greek god of fertility. a dude with a big dick which i'm sure you don't have cause you could be underage as well. it shows how you are so heterosexual on this site. without you i don't think this site can function. i mean you do a search on your posts wow your reports are like 5 sentences long. you are such a value to this site plz keep posting such useless dribble

There are all types. Mainlanders with scruples, and mainlanders without. HKers with scruples, and HKers without. HKers with great legs, and far too many without. haha.

I disagree that the British instilled any of those things. But let's just take a look at the facts for a moment.

1. China was closed off to the world for the better half post WWII
2. China pretty much lost an entire generation (with some exceptions) to the Cultural Revolution.
3. If the British Rule was good at anything, placing good infrastructure in place. Education, Parliamentary, etc.

The one thing that I think that Hong Kong really benefitted from 99 years of British Rule, is social maturity. While still not to the level of the British, they are vastly ahead of majority of Mainlanders.

Just my observation...we don't see a whole lot in the trailer park =)~

~UD

i am part cantonese, and i wouldn't disrespect my own blood.  at the same time, i don't think the vast social divide between typical hong kongers and typical beijingers or shanghainese can be attributed to "cantoneseness."  we're a few centuries from when this was true, but for a large part of chinese history, south china played catchup with the north and east.

yes, there are a ton of hot hk chicks.  but that is a characterization of most big cities.  allow me to opine that had shanghai been colonized for 150 years by a Western power, the hotness quotient in modern shanghai would be off the charts.

i don't name drop the LKF clubs i frequent when i'm in town.  suffice to say, being able to "afford" it is not an entrance criterion for these venues.

again here you go with your two ID's uncle fag and prick. you think you can just change what you said. look i'll make it easy for you to understand. anything i smell as ANTI-ASIAN i'm gonna go after. like you said you like to stir the pot. let's take a look at your quote:

I have to agree that HK girls have some great legs.  I wonder how that happened.  But their faces are not traditionally beautiful.  Consider that many famous HK actresses like Maggie Cheung and Carina Lau are not of Cantonese stock but rather come from Shanghai and other big cities on the mainland.

now you say this:

yes, there are a ton of hot hk chicks.  but that is a characterization of most big cities.  allow me to opine that had shanghai been colonized for 150 years by a Western power, the hotness quotient in modern shanghai would be off the charts.

yup you are a good debater. just watch what you say in the future

captain,
If you wish to debate, that's fine, but watch your language. I have restored his points.  This way you two boys can operate on level playing fields without him fearing he'll be slapped every time he responds.

I hope you guys consider, when the british first colonized hong kong it was very bad.

HKers were basically treated like slaves as if they were less than human beings. For awhile, even wealthy HK merchants could not buy property in certain neighborhoods of Hong Kong. It was very racist, and to extent alot of that still exists in the western world.

The shift in humility and equality i think came around world war II, when britian basically was on the verge of losing to germany. Even Hong Kong was not completely outside the war, HK was partially invaded and there even then there was a small defense force (with some chinese i believe) which had fought back somewhat.

China was called the middle kingdom because it was the center of the world at one time. Various western powers forcefully came into China and exploited the people for their own wealth, a byproduct of that was the exposure to newer technologies, forms of government, etc.  I'm sure todays severe corruption and ethics problem were brought about as a side effect of this as well.  Is this justified?

Does the bad outweigh the good? I dont know if you can quantify that so easily.

Food for thought.

Thanks for your input bmberman!

I don't have any illusions about colonial rule.  It's a story told countless times across human history where an enterprising, technologically superior strongman threatens and enslaves a people for their natural resources (in this case an incredibly valuable trade route).
It's unfortunate that the Chinese, at least for the last two hundred years, have been on the shit end of this deal.  Hey, I'm just calling it like it is.  The Chinese have succeeded economically much like the Jews -- through industriousness, shrewd business tactics, and a willingness to get their hands dirty in untapped markets.  Colonial powers like Britain and Japan succeeded a little differently -- they had big ships and big guns.  It's exactly like indiana jones and the sword wielding arab in raiders.

But the main point about the OP was the serendipity of historical accident.  Like why the qwerty keyboard layout which was designed to slow typing down to avoid typewriter jams became dominant.  Like why a superior format like betamax fell to vhs.  Like why a crappycollection of internet bookmarks became a multibillion dollar company.  Hong kongers were certainly shit on by the Brits, but you'd be hard pressed to find one who's willing to trade his buying power with some schlub on the mainland.