6.
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And some things never change: the 1948 yearbook complained about the traffic congestion created by Hong Kong's 9 266 vehicles running two photographs to prove it. One shows cars parked 'on the waterfront' along both sides and in the centre of Connaught Road outside the Hong Kong Club. The other shows a street that no longer exists.
By contrast, Hong Kong 1996 records the fact that there were 458,785 licensed vehicles in the territory last year, and just 1,717 kilometres of roads, one of the world's highest traffic densities.
The contrasts are also illustrated in a special pictorial section which shows some of the remarkable changes that Hong Kong has undergone in the past half
century.
The yearbook contains more photographs than normal, depicting various aspects of life in the territory. The 20 colour sections cover subjects ranging from striking views of the Lantau Fixed Crossing as construction nears completion to the moving moments of the disbandment of the Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers).
Besides recording the events of 1995, the anniversary edition of the yearbook has a new appendix listing all international agreements to which Hong Kong is a party. including those agreed to since the Joint Liaison Group was established in 1984.
The endpaper maps are another special feature of the yearbook. Hong Kong 1996 has the updated 1995 map of the territory in the front and for the first time – Hong Kong in its regional setting as the back endpapers.
This map, redrawn in late 1995 especially for the yearbook, pinpoints the major cities of the Pearl River Delta and southern Guangdong. It delineates the Shenzhen and Zhuhai special economic zones and the main road and rail routes already built, plus those under construction. Southern China's new ports and airports are also marked.
Hong Kong 1996 is available in English and Chinese and costs $80.
Copies are available from the Government Publications Centre, ground floor, Low Block, Queensway Government Offices, 66 Queensway, Hong Kong; leading bookshops; and District Offices.
Mail orders should be addressed to the Information Services Department, Publications Sales Office, 28th floor, Siu On Centre, 188 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Enquiries may be made on 2598 8194-7, or by fax on 2598 7482.
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