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This dissertation, "Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in Hong Kong: a Lesson to Learn From Cantonese Opera" by Chi-yau, Chan,, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Intangible cultural heritage (henceforth ICH), a living expression of indigenous culture and traditions, have been orally transmitted through generations. As the heritage bearers are usually aged and have mere opportunities to pass on their knowledge to young practitioners, ICH are disappearing at a rapid pace. Safeguarding ICH is a battle against time. Since the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (henceforth the Convention) was adopted in 2003, China has been proactive in participating in the Convention and safeguarding its ICH. Ratified the Convention on 2 December 2004, China was the sixth out of the 143 State Members deposited the Convention1. China's prompt response to the Convention could show how determined she was in safeguarding its ICH. Hong Kong agreed to apply the Convention in December 2004 but the early adoption of the Convention did not help Hong Kong to keep its pace on safeguarding ICH. During the 6 years practice of safeguarding ICH since 2006, China had already built its ICH inventory through announcing 3 batches of National ICH List and inscribing 2500 plus elements, established a ICH Transmitters List with 1400 plus transmitters, and most importantly, adopted the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Law (henceforth the China ICH Law). In contrast, Hong Kong has not even completed its territory-wide survey until now for its first batch of