From British to Chinese rule, Hong Kong is in the process of change — and the Hong Kong Students Association wants Iowa State to know about it.

A cultural exhibition and speakers will be part of “Hong Kong in Transition,” a project being held today and Tuesday in the South Ballroom of the Memorial Union to address the issues surrounding the changes in Hong Kong.

“This will be an interesting event to tell the ISU community what is happening and what the future will hold,” said Joseph Fung, project coordinator.

Hong Kong has been under British rule for 155 years. As of July 1 of this year, Hong Kong will become a special administration region of the People’s Republic of China.

There is supposed to be an unchanged economic and political system for the next 50 years, but there is a lot of uncertainty as to what will happen in Hong Kong during the transition.

Fung said the idea for the exhibition came about last fall when some friends of his started asking questions about what was going to happen. A seven-member task force, along with 20 other people, have worked on the project since February.

Michelle Yau, a graduate student in industrial relations and a member of the task force, said the event will be a good opportunity for people to learn about Hong Kong.

“Hopefully people will be aware of the situation and learn something about Hong Kong,” Yau said.

ISU President Martin Jischke will speak at the opening ceremony at noon today. He will be followed by keynote speaker E. Kwan Choi, a professor in economics. Fung said Choi will focus on the economic and political impacts of the change in rule, including the changes in the Asian and world economies.

At noon on Tuesday, a panel discussion will take place with Adrian Bennett, a professor of history, and John Wong, an associate professor of marketing.

“It will be an open discussion,” Yau said, “so people can come and say what they want.”

From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Tuesday in the South Ballroom, there will be a photo exhibition to show three different aspects of Hong Kong. Fung said the first part will show the history of Hong Kong. The second part will focus on the political, economic and infrastructure changes in Hong Kong. The third part will show the culture of Hong Kong, including housing, food and transportation.

There are about 105 students and faculty members from Hong Kong at ISU.

“We are a small group,” Yau said, “so this is a good opportunity for us to come out and show people what we have.”