Once you make your way out of the airport and step into a wall of humidity, you know you’re in Asia. It’s hot pretty much all year round, the average temperature ranging from 20-35C, depending on the time of year. The humidity is the killer; sometimes during the summer it reaches 98%.

As far as an introduction to the backpacking adventure we have in store over the coming months is concerned, Hong Kong is the perfect place to start. Not too much of a culture shock, plenty of people speak English and it is probably the most similar place to my home country, the UK, in the whole of Asia – after all, it was a colony up until 1997 when the 99-year lease Britain had on it expired and it was returned to the Chinese.

Hong Kong was made rich largely due to its location, being accessible from mainland China, the whole of South-East Asia, the Indian and Pacific Oceans. This means that, over the years, a great deal of business between one area of the world and another has either been conducted here or flowed through. Probably the most significant example of this is the simple transit of goods either into or out of the continent; the port is one of the busiest in the world. Essentially a gateway to Asia, it is used by many as a strategic trading location, most significantly by Britain, China and the US. A lot of people have become very affluent in a land where money really is king and, as China’s economy grows at increasingly breakneck speed, it is only going to get richer.

As anywhere, poverty does exist but is dealt with in quite a different manner to the West. This is a welfare state that is nowhere near as generous or as open to abuse as our own, and not at all adequate for those in real need. The effect, however, is that unemployment is not an option and people are forced to work. The only people you see begging on the streets are those with obvious physical restrictions to their earning a wage, such as missing limbs. Also, Asians tend to have an extremely strong work ethic – the idea of a 40-hour week is laughed off as laziness! Add to that extremely strong family ties as standard: elderly relatives more often than not go to live with their children and a parent would never consider charging a child of working age rent, and you can see how the family adopts the role of the state, or vice-versa, depending on your perspective.

As to Hong Kong itself, it is a melting pot of people and cultures, with the Chinese dominant. Home to one of Britain’s largest expat communities, many emigrated during the 20th century and have been here for generations. There are also significant populations of Americans, Australians, continental Europeans and Southern Asians. In any one day you will here at least half a dozen languages though, thanks to US television, English is often spoken with an American accent.

As well as breathtaking skyscrapers, you will also find Buddhist temples that have been around for centuries. Just off the main shopping thoroughfares, side streets will be crammed with stallholders, selling everything from freshly killed fish (you can watch them do it) to cheap Rolexes. Bars and nightclubs cater to Westerners whilst locals, not attracted to this, cram the many restaurants and cafes. Eating out is the main form of socializing for the Chinese and prices are subsequently very affordable. Aside from this, shopping is a national pastime. Everywhere you go there is a certain energy, a vibrancy that is created by a city that never sleeps – shops open late and there is always something to do or see, somewhere to go. And nighttime especially is awesome with thousands of huge neon signs lighting up many streets. It’s one of those places where you can just wander for hours, merely taking in the sights, smells and sounds.

The architecture is massively impressive, as is the fact that the city is home to the same number of people as London, but is around a quarter of its size – this is possible by the majority of the population living in high rise buildings, something looked down upon in the West,but made possible here by the desirability of the accommodation.

Certainly energetic and economically booming, an unexpected quality is how green the place is - literally. One way I always like to describe Hong Kong is as ‘a cosmopolitan city, built on a tropical island’. Aside from the main business and residential areas, districts are separated by mountains, valleys and jungle with winding roads where it is impossible to speed, although the bus drivers do try! Thirty minutes outside the city center, and still within the city itself, you can go hiking. And the beaches are phenomenal – pure, golden sands with warm, transparent water and some of them practically deserted.

Hong Kong is changing though. Since 1997 China has not overtly interfered or changed things, but it has been steadily growing its influence. The most obvious indication is the language – six years ago, practically everyone spoke English but now it is considered more useful to learn Mandarin (the language of mainland China, in Hong Kong the Language is Cantonese – the two are about as similar as French and Spanish). Also, previously being a Westerner meant a certain status was assumed and afforded but nowadays, there is a realization that the Chinese can be just as rich as the foreigners.

No matter what the political situation, Hong Kong has always retained its charm and it is this that makes it special. One of its most startling aspects is the massive contrasts to be witnessed, such as traditional Asian culture flourishing in harmony with one of the world’s most important financial centres. As a tourist destination, it has everything a visitor could wish for, so long as they have a healthy bank account!