Since Hong Kong was originally a fishing village in Baoan County, Guangdong Province, Cantonese (Wanbao Pian) has always been the mother tongue of Hong Kong people. After the defeat of the Opium War, the Manchu government ceded sovereignty to Hong Kong, and English became the official language of the Hong Kong government. Today, English still plays an important role in the Hong Kong government. During the British Hong Kong government, especially when dealing with the "New Territories" problem in the northern mountainous areas, the British Hong Kong authorities allowed people who lived in that land and village to enjoy the treatment of "indigenous residents" in order to appease the people's resistance. All "aborigines" and their descendants can have the right to distribute land in "small houses", and the residents in these mountain villages are mostly "Hakkas".

There is no legal definition of "Hong Kong people" in both Chinese and English; But in daily life, it can refer to people who have the status of permanent residents in Hong Kong, people who have lived in Hong Kong for a certain period of time, and even people who simply live in Hong Kong.

It is generally believed that Hong Kong retains the feudal and Confucian way of thinking and attitude towards things in China's traditional culture, and integrates the western critical and innovative culture, which is similar to that of Japan and South Korea. Similarly, traditional religious ceremonies, living customs and other folk beliefs, such as ancestor worship and geomantic omen, are more popular in Hong Kong than in Chinese mainland. Hong Kong people have also created a unique Hong Kong pop culture. Hong Kong Cantonese songs, Hong Kong movies and Hong Kong TVB TV plays have great influence in East Asia.