Here we share some of our favourite fun Hong Kong facts for kids.
We discover Hong Kong’s tallest building, most popular tourist attraction and richest man among other Hong Kong fun facts.
We find out what world records Hong Kong holds, what the name Hong Kong means in Chinese and the history behind some of Hong Kong’s most beloved landmarks.
If you are traveling to Hong Kong with kids, why not download our fun facts about Hong Kong pdf file to print up and take with you? That way your kids can read all these interesting facts about Hong Kong while they are there!
Follow the link above to get the printable download Hong Kong Fun Facts for Kids.
- Hong Kong is made up of 263 islands, plus Kowloon and the New Territories, which are on the mainland bordering China.
Lantau Island (where the airport and Hong Kong Disneyland are) is the largest island in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Island is the second largest island. You can reach some of the smaller outlying islands by public ferry from Central Ferry Piers.
- Hong Kong means ‘Fragrant Harbour’ in Chinese.
- Kowloon means ‘nine dragons’ in Chinese.
Legend has it that the emperor named it ‘eight dragons’ after the eight hills of Kowloon. When a courtier pointed out that the emperor himself was a dragon, he changed it to “gao” (nine) “lung” (dragon) – or Kowloon.
- Hong Kong has the highest number of skyscrapers in the world.
As of June 2019, Hong Kong has 355 buildings higher than 150 metres. That is 77 more than its nearest rival New York.
The city has over 9,000 other high-rise buildings, with more than 1,500 over 100 metres tall.
- The tallest building in Hong Kong is the ICC (International Commerce Centre).
The ICC is 484 metres high and has 118 floors, making it the 8th tallest building in the world.
The top floors of the ICC are occupied by the Ritz Carlton hotel and includes the highest bar in the world, Ozone.
- Nearly 40% of Hong Kong is designated as Country Park.
Although Hong Kong is famous for its skyscrapers, there is a huge amount of greenery. The Country Parks are home to hundreds of kilometres of hiking trails and picnic areas.
- The Peak is Hong Kong’s most visited tourist attraction.
The Peak provides guests with incredible views over the city from its elevated position 428 meters above sea level.
The most popular way to get to the Peak is via the Peak Tram. The Peak Tram started operating in 1888 and remains one of the oldest and steepest funicular railways in the world
- The Star Ferry has been carrying passengers across the harbour since 1880.
At that time it was operated by one man and the journey took around 40 minutes to one hour. Today, thanks to faster ferries and land reclamation on both sides of the harbour, the journey aboard the Star Ferry from Central to Tsim Sha Tsui takes just 10 minutes.
- The Tian Tan Buddha (aka Big Buddha) is one of the largest seated Buddhas in the world.
The Big Buddha is 34 metres high and is made entirely of Bronze. You need to climb 268 steps to reach the base of the Buddha.
You can reach the Big Buddha by taking a 25-minute cable car journey on board the Ngong Ping 360.
Click here to read more about visiting the Big Buddha.
- The Duk Ling is Hong Kong’s oldest surviving sailing junk.
The Duk Ling was built in 1955 and was originally used as a fishing boat. It was fully restored in the 1980s and became a tourist boat, until it sank during a typhoon in September 2014!
It was raised from the depths and relaunched in June 2015 and is once again taking tourists on sightseeing cruises around the harbour.
Click here to learn more about the Duk Ling tour.
- Hong Kong ranks 6th in the global billionaires list.
There are 67 billionaires living in Hong Kong. Li Ka-Shing is Hong Kong’s richest man, worth an estimated US $37.7 billion dollars, according to Forbes.
- Hong Kong was under British colonial rule for 165 years.
Hong Kong became a British colony in 1842 after the British defeated the Chinese in the Opium Wars.
On July 1st1997, the official ‘handover’ to the Chinese saw Hong Kong become a ‘Special Administrative Region’ of China. The Official name of Hong Kong is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, or Hong Kong SAR for short.
- The flower on the Hong Kong flag is called a Bauhinia.
The bauhinia plant is also known as the Hong Kong Orchid Tree. You will find this pretty pink flower all around Hong Kong. It blooms from the beginning of November to end March.
- The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge is the world’s longest bridge/tunnel sea crossing.
The bridge/tunnel system is 55 kilometres long and takes around 40 minutes to drive from Hong Kong to Macau port.
The bridge opened on 23rdOctober 2018 and cost US $18.8 billion to build.
- Hong Kong has the world’s longest covered escalator.
The Central-Mid Levels Escalator is made up of 18 consecutive escalators and covers 800 metres in length. It carries more than 60,000 people every day.
The escalators run downhill from 6am – 10am, then uphill from 10.30am- midnight.
- Dim Sum means “touch your heart” in Chinese.
The Cantonese delicacy of dim sum consists of a selection of snack-type dishes, including steamed and fried dumplings, buns and pastries served in bamboo steamers or small plates.
Dim Sum is traditionally washed down with copious amounts of Chinese tea, which is why it is often called ‘yum cha’, which translates as ‘drink tea’.
Click here to find the best restaurants in Hong Kong for dim sum.
- Many buildings in Hong Kong are built using Feng Shui principles.
Keep a look out for the design in many buildings in Hong Kong. You may see some buildings with a hole in the middle, to allow the dragon to pass through.
Or you may see octagonal shaped windows (considered to be lucky), or fountains at the entrance (said to encourage wealth to flow into the building).
Look at the HSBC building – can you see the platform that joins the two towers? This acts as a ‘chopping board’ to cancel out the negative chi coming from the sharp angles of the nearby Bank of China building.
- Some buildings in Hong Kong don’t have a 4th floor.
Number 4 is considered to be unlucky. That is because the word for number 4 in Chinese sounds very similar to the word for ‘death’. So many buildings in Hong Kong skip floor number 4.
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Great list. I once lived in Hong Kong for four years and most of the things on your list were new to me.
Thanks Lyn 🙂