From above, Hong Kong looks like some filmmaker’s futuristic idea of New York: a pulsing neon sea of skyscrapers, with new ones constantly elbowing their way to the top. It’s a place where deals are struck on the sky bridges between convention centers and hotels as commuters glide through the hills on covered escalators and moving sidewalks.

Once you’ve arrived, however, take a moment before boarding the high-speed train to the city center and listen to the voices echoing throughout the world’s largest airport terminal: Cantonese, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Japanese and more English than you might expect. Take a quick glance through the window of the train at the outlines of the massive AsiaWorld-Expo convention hall. Then, as you pick up speed, settle back in your seat and marvel that the world you’d always imagined exists in present-day Hong Kong — a world where investors from every continent talk business without boundaries in the freest market in the world and centuries-old traditions sit side by side with tomorrow’s technology.

More than a thousand international corporations make Hong Kong their headquarters today for the same reason the British Empire claimed it as a colony in 1841: They see the city as the gateway to China and the markets of all of Asia. While the British chose the little cluster of islands along China’s south coast, today’s merchants come in part because Hong Kong’s 150-year experience with British rule has made it something truly unique: a city that is both European and thoroughly Asian, an archipelago whose status as a special administrative region within China allows companies to do business with one of the world’s most dynamic economies — with little red tape; a low tax rate; a well-educated, professional work force and top-notch venues for meetings and conventions.

The Hong Kong government has poured $19 million into a five-year campaign to promote the city as the region’s No. 1 choice for fairs, meetings and conventions. They’ve backed up that claim in part by sinking $180 million into an expansion of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre — the second in its 20-year history. When completed this spring, the project will expand the size of the harborside convention center by 40 percent, adding space for the Hong Kong Electronics Fair and the 70 other international fairs the center hosts each year.

A building boom in Hong Kong is nothing new. The 118-story International Commerce Centre will become the world’s third-highest building upon completion in 2010 and will include the world’s highest hotel — the new Ritz- Carlton — as well as the city’s highest pools, located 656 feet above street level at the new W Hotel. Yet recent projects have emphasized Hong Kong’s status as one of Asia’s cultural capitals as well as its financial headquarters. At least 36 percent of the new West Kowloon Cultural District, scheduled for construction between 2010 and 2014, will be set aside for the arts, including theaters, a chamber music hall, Chinese opera house and museum of visual culture.

Cranes and construction crews are so much a part of life in Hong Kong that it’s easy to overlook the fact that three-quarters of its territory is undeveloped, and 40 percent of that has been set aside for parks and nature reserves. Many of the city’s 28 million annual visitors come for business meetings, but they stay for a weekend at one of Hong Kong’s tropical beaches, an afternoon contemplating the bronze Big Buddha at the Po Lin Monastery or an evening at one of the floating restaurants of Aberdeen Harbor. In fact, meeting packages at hotels like the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong sometimes include participation in dragon boat races, visits to the outer islands of Cheung Chau or Lantau, or trips by tram up the 1,811-foot summit of Victoria Peak, the highest point on Hon g Kong Island.

“The ‘musts’ [for meeting planners] include a cruise along our world-famous Victoria Harbour — and doing it on Grand Cru, our mega yacht,” said Gladis Young, marketing manager for the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong. “The Peak is not to be missed for its beautiful views of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. Finally, whether it is a leisure or business trip, a visit to Hong Kong would not be complete without trying our Cantonese dim sum.”

Hong Kong residents take eating out seriously, visiting the city’s more than 9,000 restaurants an average of 6.5 times each week. Though famous for its Cantonese cuisine, Hong Kong’s dining options range from the steamed buns and shrimp dishes available at its dai pai dong (food stalls) to the world-class menu at Lung King Heen, the restaurant at the Four Seasons and the first Chinese restaurant to earn three Michelin stars. Hong Kong became the first Chinese city to warrant its own edition of the Michelin Guide in December 2008, with 22 of the 202 restaurants listed receiving one or more stars.

No city on earth has been immune to the effects of the global financial crisis, and Hong Kong banks and investors have proven particularly vulnerable to the collapse of mortgage-backed securities. Yet Hong Kong appears to be weathering the storm. Its unemployment rate was only 3.5 percent in October 2008 — nearly half that of the 6.7 percent the United States faced during the same period — and its rate of inflation was 1.8 percent. Having bounced back from the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and the SARS epidemic in 2003, Hong Kong is expected to emerge from the current slowdown all but unscathed, with the Bank of East Asia predicting only 2.5 percent inflation in 2009.

CONVENTION CENTERS

ASIA WORLD-EXPO
Hong Kong’s newest convention center, AsiaWorld-Expo opened in 2005 at a cost of $303 million. The center, which recently hosted gatherings of the Lions Club, the Asian International Aerospace Expo and Congress and the region’s first Coffee Fest, encompasses 754,000 square feet of rentable space — including 10 ground-level halls and a 135,000-seat concert hall that is the city’s largest indoor entertainment arena. Even in a city as interconnected as Hong Kong, AsiaWorld-Expo stands apart: It is linked by walkways to Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) and boasts its own station on the MTR rail line. Hong Kong International Airport, Lantau, tel 852 3606 8828, www.asiaworld-expo.com

HONG KONG CONVENTION AND EXHI BITION CENTRE
When it opened in 1988, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre had two distinct advantages over other venues: ownership by the city government and its location overlooking Victoria Harbour. Those advantages persisted as the center grew, doubling its space in 1997. When the current $180 million expansion is complete in spring 2009, the center will include nearly 893,000 square feet of exhibition space and 969,000 square feet of rentable function space. The center has helped justify that expansion by continuing to draw crowds to its trade fairs despite the recent economic downturn: Attendance at Cosmoprof Asia in November 2008 attracted 6.4 percent more visitors than the beauty industry event did in 2007. 1 Expo Drive, Wanchai, tel 852 2582 8888, www.hkcec.com

HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL TRADE & EXHI BITION CENTRE
The vast center welcomed its new eight-story, 900,000-square-foot E-Max shopping mall in 2007 — a drop in the bucket of the center’s 1.76 million square feet. Located in the commercial district of Kowloon Bay, HITEC includes 17 meeting rooms and several large rotundas on three stories. 1 Trademart Drive, Kowloon Bay, tel 852 2620 2222, www.hitec.com.hk/en

MEETING HOTELS

FOUR SEA SONS HONG KONG
The world’s largest Four Seasons opened in 2005 as part of the International Finance Centre, the two-tower complex — currently the tallest in Hong Kong — where other tenants include Bank of America, the Blackstone Group and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. The 55-story, 399-room hotel overlooks Victoria Harbour and provides a variety of well-appointed meeting spaces from executive boardrooms to the 7,865-square-foot Grand Ballroom — as well as top-ranked Cantonese and French restaurants and the kind of luxury that impresses even those who are used to Four Seasons service. $$$$ 8 Finance St. Central, tel 852 3196 8888, www.fourseasons.com/hongkong

GRAND HYATT HONG KONG
In addition to its direct link to the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre and its own 26 meeting rooms — including the 7,320-square-foot Grand Ballroom — the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong has operated its own convention services department since 1991, with its managers acting as 24-hour liaisons between the hotel and the needs of a conference group. The latest addition to its meeting facilities is The Residence, a drawing room, lounge and library that adds a 1930s French Art Deco flair to the Grand Hyatt lobby. More than 70 percent of the hotel’s 549 guestrooms overlook Victoria Harbour, and the hotel’s yacht, the Grand Cru, is available for cocktail receptions or to transfer VIPs to the airport. $$$$ 1 Harbour Road, Wanchai, tel 852 2584 7818, www.hongkong.grand.hyatt.com

THE PENINSULA HONG KONG
Hong Kong’s first and most famous hotel, The Peninsula opened in 1928 and is considered by many to be the world’s best; its fleet of Rolls-Royces is so well known that its color is referred to as “Peninsula green.” In addition to 300 guestrooms; the venerable French restaurant, Gaddi; and one of the city’s two private helipads, The Peninsula offers meeting space ranging from the elegant 3,490-square-foot Salisbury Rooms to the intimate 425-square-foot Garden Pen. $$$$ Salisbury Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, tel 852 235 3010, www.peninsula.com