China: Incense urn on an altar in the 19th century Man Mo Temple; Tai Po; New Territories; Hong Kong. The temple is dedicated to Man Cheong; the God of Literature; and Mo Tai; the god of Martial Arts.

Originally a sparsely populated area of farming and fishing villages; Hong Kong has become one of the world's most significant financial centres and commercial ports. It is the world's tenth-largest exporter and ninth-largest importer.

Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island at the end of the First Opium War in 1842.