Thailand and Hong Kong Religious Differences
Compare the religion in Thai and Hong Kong Introduction Religion is a way to review the cultural system of a country, it relates humanity to spirituality. Hong Kong and Thailand have a distinct history background, which interpret the big difference in daily cultural practices. This essay aims to provide a brief introduction of the religion in Thailand and Hong Kong and compares their differences and similarities. It will start from the history background and general information to the details of religious activities. General In Hong Kong, people are protected by the Basic Law, they have the religious freedom. There is a wide variety of religious groups such as Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Islam and so on. With 150 years of rule as a separate British colony, although most Hong Kong people are ethnically Chinese, Hong Kong has a unique local identity. Elements of traditional Chinese culture combining western influences have shaped Hong Kong as a city with mixed culture. Apart from the Chinese and British cultural influences, Hong Kong is a free trade port with people from different countries staying there which have a large variety of religion beliefs and ways of thought. According to a Gullup poll in 2010, 64% of Hong Kong residents are either agnostic or indifferent towards religion. Buddhism and Taoism are the major religious with more than 1 million Buddhists and about 1 million Taoists. The second large religious group is Christianity, it has been in Hong Kong since 1841. There are about 843,000 Christians in Hong Kong, most of them are Protestant or Roman Catholic. Temples and churches are omnipresent and ubiquitous on the streets, few of them have been there for more than 700 years ago. Although Hong Kong is literally no religion background, there are some public holidays related to religious festivals such as Christmas, Easter and Buddha’s Birthday. Adherents hold special celebration or ceremonies on these occasions. Those major religious bodies have