How Hong Kong Was Handed Over to the Chinese Government After 99 Years of British Rule

At midnight July 1, 1997, the British government officially handed over the city of Hong Kong to the Chinese government per the expiration of a 99-year lease on the land. Sam from Wendover Productions explains through animation by Josh Sherrington and Elise Heersink how the city and its people prepared for this change in terms of sovereignty, governance, representation (flag), signage and of course, the big celebration when the handover actually occurred.

…an enormous amount of planning and preparation was conducted in order to carry out one of the only modern instances of the change in sovereignty of a city as large and influential as Hong Kong between two countries so different. In fact, this was the first time a capitalistic territory had been handed over to a communist state.