Cathay known China under names similar to "Cathay", that country was known to the peoples of South-East Asia and India under names similar to "China" (cf. e.g. "Cina" in modern Malay). Meanwhile, in China itself, people usually referred to their nation state based on the name of the ruling dynasty, e.g. "Da Ming Guo" ("the kingdom of the Great Ming"), or as the "Middle Kingdom" ("Zhongguo" 中國); see also Names of China for details. When the Portuguese reached South-East Asia (Afonso de Albuquerque conquering Malacca in 1511) and the southern coast of China (Jorge Álvares reaching the Pearl River estuary in
Cathay City Cathay City Cathay City () is the headquarters of Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong's flag-carrying airline. It is located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline built Cathay City so that all central employees could work in one location. The headquarters opened in 1998. The topping out ceremony was held on February 17, 1998. Cathay City was scheduled to be built in increments between April and September 1998. It was scheduled to open in July, when Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok was to open. It was scheduled to have over 3,000 employees. The airline's move to the centre