GEOGRAPHY AND POPULATION
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both groups live side by side, the Hakka are always found upstream, along foothills, and generally on the poorer land. After a period of subservience to powerful Cantonese families, the balance was restored by heavy immigration. Relations between Hakka and Cantonese having endured a period of strife are now peaceful. Intermarriage is not uncommon and the two groups share some villages. The Tanka comprise a majority of boat-dwellers and they seldom settle ashore. They have been in the region since time unknown and are the principal seafaring people of South China, owning large sea-going junks and engaging in deep-sea fishing. They speak their own distinctive dialect of Cantonese. The Hoklo resemble the Tanka in many respects and like them have been in the area since time unknown. They too are boat-dwellers but are less numerous than the Tanka and are mostly found in eastern waters. A few communities of Hoklo have lived ashore for several generations. The influx of people into the New Territories from China has been so great that only in the Sai Kung District is the truly indigenous population still in the majority. The newcomers are mostly from the Kwangtung Province and, where they are not from Kwangtung, they usually become assimilated to the Cantonese.
CLIMATE
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The climate of Hong Kong is governed by the monsoons and although the Colony lies within the tropics it enjoys a variety of weather from season to season unusual for tropical countries. The winter monsoon blows from the north or north-east and nor- mally begins during September. It prevails from October until mid-March, but can persist until May. Early winter is the most pleasant time of the year, when the weather is generally dry and sunny with mean daily temperatures about 21°C to 24°C. After the New Year the sky is more often cloudy, though rainfall remains slight; frequently the days are overcast and dull with chilly winds. Coastal fogs occur from time to time in early spring-during breaks in the monsoon-when warm south-easterly winds may temporarily displace the cool north-easterlies.
The summer monsoon blows from the south or south-west and although it can occur from mid-April until September it is not as persistent as the north-east monsoon of winter. During this part of the year the weather is almost continuously hot and humid,