Culture of Hong Kong

As a result, after the 1997 transfer of sovereignty to the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong has continued to develop a unique identity under the rubric of One Country, Two Systems.

In addition, immigrants and expatriates from the West and other Asian countries have contributed much to Hong Kong's linguistic and demographic diversity.

Since the 1997 handover, the government has adopted the "biliterate and trilingual" (Jyutping: Loeng3 man4 saam1 jyu5; Traditional Chinese: 兩文三語, literally "two writing systems and three languages") policy.

[10] Elements of traditional Cantonese culture combined with British influences have shaped Hong Kong in every aspect of the city, spanning from law, politics, education, languages, cuisines, and the way of thinking.

[18] The mix of east and west, old and new, has offered Hong Kong people a diverse variety of choices but at the same time confusions.

In Hong Kong, traditional Confucian-derived values such as "family solidarity", "courtesy" and "saving face" carry significant weight in the minds of the people.

[citation needed] Structurally, one of the first laws to define people's relationships was the Hong Kong Matrimonial Ordinance passed in 1972.

For example, Yeung Sin-sum, who is venerated as "the last master of the Lingnan school of painting", is based (though not born) in Hong Kong.

Having received international recognition for directors such as Wong Kar-wai, it has remained a moderate level of prominence despite a severe slump starting in the mid-1990s.

Martial artists and film stars such as Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee are known globally, especially in Chinese settlements overseas, historically most of whom have been of Cantonese ancestry and enjoy Cantonese-language entertainment.

Hong Kong was the powerhouse for producing a large number of soap opera TV series in Cantonese dialect.

Hong Kong has made contributions in recent years with productions like A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation and DragonBlade.

[citation needed] In addition to the above, Hong Kong has different kinds of performing arts, including drama, dance, and theater.

[40] The following performing artist groups originated from and based in Hong Kong have seen modest success even beyond Asia: Magazine and newspaper publishers distribute and print in numerous languages, most notably Vernacular Chinese and English.

Hong Kong's soap dramas, comedy series, and a variety of shows have reached mass audiences throughout the world of Chinese languages, primarily Cantonese communities.

Nowadays, Hong Kong literature has been fully developed, with numerous prolific writers producing works such as proses and novels.

Despite these, it is not simply a collection of cuisine from other regions of the world, but also has its own style: an example would be Dai pai dong, casual outdoor dining restaurant, primarily providing Cantonese foods.

Cha chaan teng (Jyutping: Caa4 caan1 teng1; Traditional Chinese: 茶餐廳, literally "tea restaurant")[43][44] came from bing sutt ("ice chamber").

[48] There are some distinctive holidays that are celebrated in Hong Kong as a part of eastern culture, and not generally in western countries, except among certain overseas Chinese (especially Cantonese) communities.

They, like the Cantonese people in the mainland, traditionally worship Wong Tai Sin[52] and several other Taoist sea deities, such as Hung Shing and Mazu.

[53] A significant amount of the adherents of non-indigenous Chinese religions, in some cases the majority, are Hong Kong citizens of non-Han descent.

The other half of the population mostly takes part in other Chinese folk religions, which comprehend the worship of local gods and ancestors, in many cases not declaring this practice as a religious affiliation in surveys.

The traditional Cantonese religiosity, including Mahayana Buddhism, was generally discouraged during the British rule over Hong Kong, which favoured Christianity.

Among teenagers, shopping, eating out, karaoke and video games are popular, with Japan being a major source of digital entertainment for cultural and proximity reasons.

Many imported goods transported to Hong Kong have lower tax duties than the international standard, making most items affordable for the general public.

However, gambling is legal only at three established and licensed institutions approved and supervised by the government of Hong Kong: horse racing (in Happy Valley and Sha Tin), the Mark Six lottery, and recently, football (soccer) betting.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club[56] provides the only legal avenue for horse racing and gambling to locals, mostly middle-aged males.

The first game to center the Hong Kong market was Pong but the most popular were Namco's Pac-Man, Taito's Space Invaders and Nintendo's Mario Bros. (released in 1978, 1980 and 1983 respectively).

The games were so popular Pac-Man was featured in the 1983 animated film version of the manhua Old Master Q, San-T In 1987 Capcom's Street Fighter enjoyed unprecedented success and unlicensed film adaptations and comics flooded the market, including one by Xu Jingcheng incorporating elements of Chinese martial arts.

Similarly SNK's The King of Fighters released in 1994 influenced youth fashion for years and at least 30 local "kung fu comics" were based on the game.