Golden Bauhinia Square

This guide to Golden Bauhinia Square in Hong Kong starts on the morning of July 1, 1997, when Beijing's gift to mark the handover was unveiled on the Wan Chai waterfront by Vice Premier Qian Qichen and the city's first Chief Executive. It walks around the gilded sculpture itself and the granite pedestal beneath it, then traces the bauhinia flower's own story, a hybrid discovered growing wild in Hong Kong that became the city's emblem decades before it reached the flag. You'll hear why that flower can't reproduce on its own. Locals have a nickname for the statue worth listening for once you're standing in front of it.