✿ | timeline

[yumcha]

timeline

➔4000 BC The first stone-age settlements are established on the south China coast.

➔1557 Portuguese traders establish a colony at Macau.

➔1685 Emperor Kangxi allows limited trade in Guangzhou (Canton). Ships begin arriving from the British East India Company.

➔1773 British traders unload 1,000 chests of opium in Guangzhou.

➔1799 China's opium consumption reaches 2,000 chests a year, forcing Beijing to ban the drug, which then drives the trade underground.

➔1834 The British East India Company loses its monopoly on the opium trade to other European nations.

➔1839 China appoints the anti-opium viceroy, Lin Zexu, to clean up drugs in Guangzhou. He confiscates around 20,000 chests of opium from the British. Hostilities mount until November, when British ships blow up four Chinese junks, sparking the first Anglo-Chinese War, which became known as the First Opium War.

➔1840-1 Negotiations between China and Britain break down, and the British fleet attacks Guangzhou and occupies the city's forts. The two sides agree on a preliminary resolution (the Convention of Chuen Pi), which cedes the island of Hong Kong (population 5,000) to the British. But neither government is happy with the terms and both refuse to ratify it.

➔1842 The Opium War ends and the British possession of Hong Kong is confirmed by the Treaty of Nanjing, which cedes Hong Kong Island to Britain "in perpetuity". Sir Henry Pottinger becomes the first British governor of Hong Kong.

➔1856-60 The Chinese cede Kowloon and Stonecutter's Island to Britain. But hostilities continue, culminating in the Second Opium War.

➔1862 A Sino-Portuguese treaty grants Macau colonial status similar to Hong Kong's.

➔1898 Britain forces China to lease the New Territories, including the outlying islands, for 99 years.

➔1911 Dr Sun Yat-sen overthrows the Qing dynasty and establishes the Republic of China.

➔1912 Emperor Puyi abdicates, signalling the end of Imperial China.

➔1932 The Chinese Communists declare war on Japan.

➔1941 On Christmas Day the British surrender Hong Kong to the Japanese.

➔1945 World War II ends and the British resume control of Hong Kong. China's civil war between the Communists and the Nationalists (Guomintang) resumes.

➔1949 The Nationalists are defeated and flee to Taiwan. The Communists found the People's Republic of China.

➔1953 With tens of thousands of people arriving each month, Hong Kong's population hits 2.2 million, but many are living in squatter camps. The Shek Kip Mei fire leaves 53,000 homeless. Public-housing policy is fast-tracked.

➔1966 Cultural Revolution begins in China, spilling over into Hong Kong with riots over a price increase in the first class Star Ferry fare.

➔1972 Opening of the first cross-harbour tunnel. Hong Kong population hits 4 million.

➔1976 Death of Mao ushers in a new era for China.

➔1978 Under Deng Xiaoping, China starts to reform its economy and open its doors to the world.

➔1912 Hong Kong's US$1 billion Mass Transit Railway opens.

➔1982 British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visits Beijing and Hong Kong to begin discussions on Hong Kong's future. China decides to develop Shenzhen, a small town on Hong Kong's northern border, into a Special Economic Zone.

➔1983 China reveals its plans for Hong Kong to become a Special Administrative Region after 1997. Under the proposed terms, Hong Kong will keep its own capitalist system, judiciary and police, and the leading official will be a Hong Kong Chinese. The Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the US dollar at a rate of 7.8.

➔1984 The British Ambassador to China and the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister initial "A Draft Agreement on the Future of Hong Kong", ending two years of acrimony. The Hong Kong government starts to plan for the territory's administration in the years running up to 1997.

➔1985 Britain and China ratify the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The colony holds its first election for the Legislatove Council (Legco), drawing criticism from China, which inisists that any political changes not accepted by Beijing will not be respected after the handover.

➔1988 The proposed Basic Law, Hong Kong's post-handover consitution, is published.

➔1989 One million people take to the streets to protest against the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Forced repatriation of Vietnamese boat people begins.

➔1992 Hong Kong's 28th and last British governor, Chris Patten, arrives in the territory and proposes political reform. The move draws attacks from Beijing.

➔1994 Legco passes Patten's proposed electoral reforms. China and the UK continue to squabble.

➔1997 China resumes sovereignty on JUly 1, Tung Chee-hwa is appointed chief executive and Hong Kong becomes an SAR. The stock market dives in response to the Asian economic crisis.

➔1998 Asian economic crisis worsens. First known human case of bird flu virus kills six people.

➔1999 Typhoon York, Hong Kong's first "direct hit" since 1983, kills two and injures over 500. A pair of Giant Pandas, named An An and Jia Jia are given to Ocean Park by China. China resumes sovereignty of Macau on 20 December.

➔2003 The deadly SARS virus spreads to Hong Kong, killing 299. Economic recovery stumbles. On 1 July, over half a million people join a march to protest against proposals for national security laws. The government backs down and shelves the plans indefinitely.

➔2004 Mainland tourist arrivals boom and economic recovery begins. Up to half a million protestors again march on 1 July, calling for more democracy and local control over local affairs.

➔2005 Tung Chee-hwa resigns and is succeeded by Donald Tsang.

➔2006 As travel restrictions on the mainland continue to ease, Chinese visitor arrivals hits 13.6 million.

➔2007 An 800-person election committee appoints Donald Tsang as CE until 2012. Hong Kong celebrates 4 years of economic growth and 10 years as an SAR of China. Two more pandas, named Le Le and Ying Ying, are given by the PRC.

➔2008 To mark China's hosting the Olympic Games, the Central Government gives five Chinese Sturgeon, symbolising the five Olympic rings, to Hong Kong. Hong Kong hosts the equestrian events.