Because of this, much of Hong Kong is set up similar to the United Kingdom, and cars drive on the left side of the road! When the British gave up control of Hong Kong in 1997, they signed an agreement with China that allowed Hong Kong to be an independent region for the next 50 years. This agreement was meant to give the people of Hong Kong time to solidify their own cultural identity, and preserve the unique blend of British and Chinese influence before being integrated into the infrastructure of Chinese government and economy.
As some of you might know, Hong Kong is currently politically divided, and it all stems from the agreement made between the British and Chinese. This is because while Hong Kong is called a Special Administrative Region of China, the Chinese government still has a large amount of influence over the Hong Kong government. In 2014, a large portion of the population in Hong Kong took part in a protest called the Umbrella Movement, where they asked China for the right to be completely independent until 2047. While this was never fully addressed by the Chinese government, things settled down until this past summer, when a new bill was introduced to the Hong Kong legislature. If passed, this bill would allow for people who were charged with a crime in mainland China that are residing in Hong Kong to be extradited, or transferred so that they can stand trial for whatever they may be charged with. The introduction of this bill was seen as China taking one step too far in the eyes of many people in Hong Kong and has reignited the issues that protesters in 2014 had.
Since I arrived in Hong Kong almost a month ago, protests have been quite common at night and during the weekends.
