HONG KONG 1842 to 1997

AT THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT ON JUNE 30th 1997 A HUGE FIREWORKS DISPLAY ACROSS THE MAGNIFICENT HONG KONG HARBOUR MARKED THE END OF HONG KONG'S DAYS AS A BRITISH COLONY AND ITS RETURN TO CHINESE RULE.

Hong Kongs involvement with Great Britain began in 1842 when the island was ceded to the British Crown, following the so called opium wars with China and the signing of the treaty of Nanking. At this time, the 1072 square kilometre island was home to just 5000 fishermen-now the population of Hong Kong including the new territories, is 6.4 million, and expected to rise to 8 million over the next decade.

The status of Hong Kong is now as a Special Administrative region within the peoples Republic of China under the slogan of "One Country, Two Systems" China has put in place a 60 member, provisional legislature, with May 1998 set as the date for elections to the legislature.

The Handover ceremony included Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Prince Charles, the Swearing of the provisional legislature banquet hosted by the British and a reception hosted by the Chinese.

What you are bidding on is a Demontfort Exchange commemorative souvenir banknote.

Designed by an international currency designer and has been printed on genuine currency paper incorporating all the latest security features and was printed on the Bank of Englands own Debden printing presses. It is not legal tender.