Hong Kong started off as a small fishing village. It later came under British control for a predetermined set of time. Under the British Hong Kong flourished and turned into a trade, and financial hub. However a new era emerged in 1997 when HK was handed back to mainland China. Hong Kong is still a major tourist destination with lots of sightseeing, monuments to visit, restaurants, and shopping districts.
The currency in use is the Hong Kong Dollar. Interestingly, it is not printed by 1 central bank like in most countries. Instead the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has authorized 3 commercial banks to print banknotes for Hong Kong. They are HSBC, Bank of China and Standard Chartered Bank. Since there are 3 different banks printing banknotes there are slight differences in each banknote printed by each bank but, they are all still equally legal tender. The design usually consists of the different bank name on the front and differ slightly in the design but, overall, they all follow the same design that was approved by the HKMA. For example, the current 50 HKD follows a basic design of a bank building on the front and a butterfly on the back. Since there are 3 banks who print their own currency each of the issues has an image of their own different bank headquarters and their own different design of a butterfly on the back.
