A 76-meter-high (249-feet) bronze-forged white Buddhist Avalokitesvara or Guan Yin statue, part of the Tsz Shan Monastery, stands behind luxurious houses at Taipo district in Hong Kong on April 16, 2015. #

A pair of macaques sit in a tree in the Kam Shan Country Park in Hong Kong on January 12, 2016. Conservationists are working hard to protect the animal which has for some become a symbol of the city. But for others, the animal remains an irritating pest. #

A plaque is partly hidden among the roots of a banyan tree at the King George V Memorial Park in Hong Kong, one of the few parks bearing the former colonial links to the territory's past, photographed on May 25, 2012. #

An aerial shot of Ma Shi Po, a farming village in the northeastern part of Fanling in the New Territories, located beside some newly-built residential buildings, photographed on July 9, 2014 in Hong Kong. #

This photo made with a long exposure shows the glow from a Noctiluca scintillans algal bloom along the seashore in Hong Kong, on January 22, 2015. The luminescence is triggered by farm pollution that can be devastating to marine life and local fisheries, according to University of Georgia oceanographer Samantha Joye. #

A hiker (top of hill) walks along a trail in Sai Kung Country Park, Hong Kong, on December 29, 2013. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) along with 20 other groups formed a coalition in 2013 to lobby the Hong Kong government to protect the southern Chinese territory's 24 designated country parks from business interests seeking to use parts of the land for housing purposes. #

Graves cover a hillside in front of apartment buildings in Hong Kong on November 22, 2015. In tightly-packed Hong Kong, the dead are causing a problem. Limited land to build on and soaring property prices mean Hong Kong is fast running out of space to store the dead. #

Performers dance at the 2015 Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Night Parade on February 19, 2015 in Hong Kong. The parade featured illuminated floats accompanied by local and international performing groups which entertained both locals and tourists alike on Chinese Lunar New Year. #

People pay respect to their relatives in front of a tombstone at Chai Wan Cemetery to mark the Qingming Festival on April 5, 2006 in Hong Kong. The Qingming Festival, known as "Tomb Sweeping Day", is a traditional time when Chinese people pay their respects to the deceased and ancestors, involving cleaning and repairing of tombs and sacrifice activities. #

A cat stretches on a counter top in a Chinese and western medicine shop in Hong Kong on December 12, 2016. Four-legged "assistants" can be found perched in certain shops across Hong Kong, keeping a nonchalant eye on business while the city does its non-stop bustle past their storefronts. #

Lau Sam-Lan, 74, faces an approaching wave as he stands on a wooden pier below the "Sai Wan swimming shed" before swimming off the western tip of Hong Kong Island on June 2, 2017. Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour is one of the world's busiest ports, but every morning daring elderly swimmers dive in to its choppy waters against a teeming backdrop of ferries, cargo ships and fishing boats. #

Tourists, residents and vendors participate in the Temple Street night market as the popular destination is illuminated in the evening in Hong Kong on August 26, 2014. The famous night market in Hong Kong's Kowloon district sells everything from electronics to trinkets, antiques, clothes, and watches. #

The view from Kowloon Peak shows apartment buildings and office block lights at night on November 3, 2016. Hong Kong is believed to be the most light-polluted city in the world, with local studies showing that levels in certain areas to be as much as 1,000 times brighter than international norms. #