PEOPLE: The estimated population is 6.8 million. Certainly tiny Hong Kong gives the impression wall-to-wall people.

Of this number, 98 percent are Chinese, of whom about 60 per cent were born in Hong Kong, the rest having migrated here from mainland China, and mainly from the southern provinces.

There are less than 300,000 foreign nationals living here. The biggest group is from the Philippines (because of all the maids) with 140,000, followed by Americans (37,000) and British (22,000).

CULTURE: Hong Kong has been described as a cultural desert. This is a snobbish view. Although it's true you won't find the opera, ballet, theater, jazz (there's a Jazz Club), movies (cinema) or museums that western capitals are blessed with, it's not a wasteland here.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic has shown tremendous improvement in the past decade, and plays a full concert schedule.

Many of the world's leading orchestras, groups and soloists pay visits during the annual Arts Festival (in January-February) and throughout the year. Amateur theater groups stage performance several times a year.

Fans of pop music and rock generally have to rely on the spillover of name artists passing through en route to or from Japan, where the big money is to be made.

Fans of western cinema are in for a lot of frustration here. Many good films never reach Hong Kong, or if they do, they may be brutally edited for commercial purposes, censored, or have a theater run of only two or three days.

Still, most of the major films get here, and many others are available through video rental companies. There is a big choice of English-language videos.

Hong Kong, though more known for its skyscrapers rocketing to the heavens, but city's modern western image is only skin deep.

Scratch the surface and you find a truly Chinese city. One example: Not one of those fancy skyscrapers would have been built, or occupied, without first consulting a geomancer, a fung shui expert, to ascertain the forces acting upon the building or the individual floor or office or apartment or room.

Hong Kong has a modest 6,000 year history, much of it traced in the museums --- yes, Hong Kong has museums just like the fancy cultural cities in the West.

If you are interested in the HKSAR's heritage or museums or fung shui, the quickest way to get your wish in a limited amount of time is to visit the Hong Kong Tourist Association.

Along with brochures on museums and Hong Kong's heritage, they run Fung Shui and Heritage Tours. (Hotline: 2508 1234)

MEDIA You will definitely not starve for want of something to see or read. TV & radio: There are two English and two Chinese (wireless) TV stations, using the PAL broadcast system.

There is also cable and satellite including CNN, ESPN and the BBC. There are five English-language radio stations, with a good mix of pop programming, classical music, BBC news and features. Newspapers & magazines:

There are two English-language morning papers, the South China Morning Post and the Hong Kong Standard.

International editions of the Asian Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, USA Today and the Financial Times, and newsmagazines like Time, Newsweek, the Far Eastern Economic Review and Asiaweek, are all printed here for further distribution.