I just want to know your opinions on this.

I think it is. Hong Kong's handover to China back in 1997 had lots of international media coverage and a grand ceremony compared to Macau.

Also I think people cared more about HK's handover than Macau!

some images

Hong Kong handover

http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/special/yearend/photos/hongkong.jpg

http://a740.g.akamai.net/f/740/606/1d/image.pathfinder.com/time/asia/magazine/2003/0728/handover.jpg

http://www.iisg.nl/~landsberger/images/hk1.jpg

http://www.iisg.nl/~landsberger/images/hk2.jpg

Macau handover

http://jacekphoto.com/macau/macau76.jpg

http://www.n-e-d.com/Thumbs/Macau5_small.jpg

yes, maybe b'cos there was fierce debates from the freedom-fighters of hk, during the sino-british declaration in the 80s-90s, the political prowess of chris patten vs CH Tung, the negiotiations of building the new airport with china & uk, etc that brought much of the attention to hk than compared to macau. nevertheless, the handover of the macau colony is also important in history

Hong Kong has 7 million people. Macau has 450,000. I think that decides it.

Another one is Hong Kong is recognized as a business, financial and trade center in Asia. It's one of Asia's most important cities. People were curious how Hong Kong will end up once it's returned to China. Some people would think capitalism and the colony's way of life would change and that it's people would have less freedom. Other would think it's business as usual.

Well Hong Kong is still the same, it's business as usual. The only change i've seen is it became more of a Chinese city.

Hong Kong was never "international" enough under Britain. The British and the Chinese people in Hong Kong were generally in very segregated social circles and all the success Hong Kong enjoyed was only because of its ties to Britain. Now Hong Kong finally has a chance to become a truly international city, attracting business and investment from all over the world. Now that the city sets its own policies, the government and the people must prove themselves capable of creating their very own international city.

This is why despite the handover and the pre-1997 fears of isolation and political doom, as well as the Asian financial crisis driven by the HK stock market crash, "Hong Kong" is becoming more and more known all over the world. Macau is also enjoying more attention.

It's because HKG is the first one to handover under by " One Country TWO system "

How about territories like Puerto Rico or Guam? They're under the United States but have their own government.

Hong Kong was not international enough under British rule but it is still a major international Asian city. And it flourished during the British rule!

hk is already international city before handover
one thing that important is how hong kong will be in the future
nyc?tokyo? or another shenzhen??
shanghai increase its internatonalism,while hk politics is being mainlandlize(i hope its doesnt)...

Hong Kong was never "international" enough under Britain. The British and the Chinese people in Hong Kong were generally in very segregated social circles and all the success Hong Kong enjoyed was only because of its ties to Britain. Now Hong Kong finally has a chance to become a truly international city, attracting business and investment from all over the world. Now that the city sets its own policies, the government and the people must prove themselves capable of creating their very own international city.

This is why despite the handover and the pre-1997 fears of isolation and political doom, as well as the Asian financial crisis driven by the HK stock market crash, "Hong Kong" is becoming more and more known all over the world. Macau is also enjoying more attention.

I'm pretty US ties were more important in the 90s than British ties.