Hong Kong’s Top 10 : Peoples and Cultures in Hong Kong

1. Chinese

   With
   a history of revolution, migration, organized crime and incessant
   trading, the witty and streetwise Cantonese are the New Yorkers of
   China, and make up the majority of Hong Kong’s population. There are
   also large communities of Shanghainese, Hakka (Kejia) and Chiu Chow
   (Chaozhou) people.

   
   

   
   
   

   Chinese fisherman

   
   
   

   Chinese chequers

2. British

   Colonial
   power may have vanished, but a large British population remains,
   including a small but influential community of native-born. Influences
   are everywhere, from street names (“Lambeth Walk”, “Rutland Quadrant”)
   to school blazers.

3. Eurasian

   The
   traditional role of this community of mixed European and Asian descent –
   as cultural and commercial brokers between East and West – remains
   undiminished. If anyone can claim to truly embody Hong Kong’s intriguing
   duality, it is this young, wealthy and internationally-minded
   community.

4. Portuguese

   In
   the Pearl River Delta since the arrival of traders in the 16th century,
   the Portuguese have inter-married extensively with the Cantonese. Aside
   from a clutch of surnames (da Silva, Sequeira, Remedios), a lasting
   influence has been the fostering of an addiction to egg tarts and
   pastries.

5. Indian

   The
   history of Hong Kong’s substantial Indian population (there are Hindus,
   Muslims and Sikhs) dates from the arrival of the British in 1841. Like
   the Eurasians, young Indians have rejected purely Western or Asian
   notions of identity, pioneering instead a synthesis of both.

6. Jewish

   Hong
   Kong has one of the oldest Jewish communities in east Asia, producing
   patrician business dynasties (the Sassoons, the Kadoories) and one of
   the most colourful colonial governors (Sir Matthew Nathan, 1903–1906).

7. Russian

   A
   few now elderly descendants are all that is left of the former émigré
   community. Hong Kong’s White Russians were once numerous, and you still
   find borsch on the menu of every takeaway and coffee shop.

8. Overseas Chinese

   The
   surging growth in British, American- and Canadian-born Chinese
   (nicknamed BBCs, ABCs and CBCs respectively) has been a characteristic
   of the last two decades, as the well-educated children of emigrants
   return in search of roots and white-collar work.

9. Filipino

   Most
   members of the largest ethnic minority stoically perform the low-paid
   occupations that Hong Kongers shun, working as domestic servants,
   drivers, waiting staff and bar room musicians, and remitting most of
   their income back home to the Philippines. Filipinas promenade in their
   thousands every Sunday at Statue Square .

10. Australian

    Working
    mostly in business and the media, the size of this community is
    reflected in the fact that it boasts the largest Australian Chamber of
    Commerce outside of Australia, and one of only two Australian
    International Schools in the world.

Top 10 Patois and Lingo in Hong Kong