The port city of Hong Kong has played a very crucial role in facilitating a whole host of commercial and financial interactions between East Asia and the greater Middle East region over the past several decades. Even after the strategic city became an integral part of China in 1997, the Special Administrative Region (SAR) continued to oil the wheels of the multifaceted relationship between East Asian countries, China in particular, and their partners in the Middle East. Besides its conventional function of smoothing the way for an array of economic and financial ties, the SAR is increasingly contributing to various cultural and recreational activities involving the two regions.