Hong Kong

Hong Kong
is now the most crowded place on earth
But 160 years ago it was very different
In 1845 only 24,000 people
Iived in Hong Kong
and there were only 700 houses.

Life was hard, and every summer hundreds
of people died
of malaria (Now there is no malaria in Hong Kong.)

Hong Kong looked very different then
farmers rode cows
in the center of the town
and ducks ran about in the streets.

Now there are nearly
seven million people
in Hong Kong
and the government builds
40,000 houses every year.

These days people drive cars,
taxis and buses in the town center but they never ride cows

In 1844 a traveler complained
that his small
wet bedroom in Hong Kong was more expensive
than a first-class hotel in London