Moving to HK from NYC in Summer 2010

Hello everyone. I am new to this site but am impressed by the community so figure this is the best place to get advice.


My company is transferring me to Hong Kong from New York City this upcoming summer. I am quite excited about the move because I am originally from Florida and view HK as kind of like a tropical NYC, complete with a MUCH better version of Atlantic City that is even closer. (For the record, I dont really gamble but still think its cool that Macao is bigger than Vegas, although the nightlife could probably use some improvement...)


So I have read through the pages and pages of info here but still have a few questions. If anyone would be kind enough to answer I will be greatly appreciative! And as a disclaimer, while these questions are very targeted, please know that I am taking this move with an extremely open mind and am very much looking forward to learning both the local culture and way of life...


So first off, while I am excited, I have to admit that I am also a bit nervous. Life is good right now, and I love NYC (it did take me three years in the city before I started feeling that way though). Are there any former New Yorkers out there who have made this move?


Which brings me to question number two. What kind of cultural events happen in HK? Do you get good western concerts (for example: Jay-Z, U2, Lady Gaga, Nickelback, Coldplay, etc...)? Do Broadway tours ever make it out there? Cirque-du-soleil? What about sports - what kind of big sporting events happen? Obviously I have a Western bias on culture but am also very open to Eastern culture as well so please let me know about that as well.


As far as food goes, are there 1) any good mexican restaurants (I went to the one in LKF and find it lacking), 2) any good italian restaurants, 3) any good southern US BBQ restaurants? I love asian food but know that every once in awhile I will crave these things... If good restaurants dont exist, will I at least generally be able to find the ingrediants in local supermarkets to cook (for example, will I be able to find corn tortillas)? Maybe I could open a restaurant if a good one doesnt exist...how hard would that be?


The next question will probably be considered strange by most people. But understand that I have lived in Manhattan for five years now and havent owned a car the entire time and am DYING to have a car in HK. Does HK have Jeep Wranglers? I cant find a dealer on the internet so have no idea. If not, how hard would it be to import one? If you cant tell, I love this car...


Thanks for any help you can provide!

Cirque du soleil has been out here, and currently is on permanently at the Venetian in Macau, Concerts - HK has definitley got better over the last few years with those. Greenday and Muse, are here in the new year. But again, several of the bigger names play in Macau not HK.

Sometimes we get big theatre productions like Cats, Mamma Mia, History Boys, but often is the Australian touring cast. There is a very big amateur dramatics scene here, and the HK Singers especially put on 2 musicals a year which are always a very high standard. There are also several smaller venues that put on more quirky stuff. HK also has its own ballet company and orchestra.

Sporting things - not so good, and are often very badly advertised, especially in football. Sometimes they get bigger named teams out, but usually for pre season warm ups, so in the summer whne lots of people are away. We have the rugby 7's of course, which is a great event even if you're not that into rugby, and the Cricket 6's, and the football 7's. There's usually a couple of fairly big tennis tournaments during the year.

Lots of chances of playing sport if you're into it, many football teams (look on the yau yee league website), there's a group of guys that meet up and play softball at Kings Park, I think there's even some ice hockey teams.

Lots of good Italian restaurants. Not sure about Mexican, probably is, but have never been to one..and yes you can can easily get corn tortillas and tacos here.

And know nothing about the car you want, but its very easy to own a car in HK, although probably harder if you decide to live in Central/Mid levels etcs, due to lack of space, costs of parking, traffic etc.

Mexican - I like Caramba but many say it is not very authentic. It is in Soho.


Italian - was very impressed with Panevino - first time I had been there. On Robinson Road (in Midlevels). Risotto was amazing.


Car - agree with cd - not sure about Jeep's specifically. But having a car is expensive to run and not all apartments come with a car park so you may be paying extra for it. Depending on where you live, you probably won't need a car. Taxis are cheap here. But if you choose to live further out like Sai Kung, Clearwater Bay, Stanley etc then a car is (at least for the first two - a necessity and for the last one, a convenience).


Good luck with the move.

Another really good thing about Hong Kong is that it is so easy to visit other places in Asia.


Not, it's not NYC, but it's not a bad place to live and work for a few years.


You have a great opportunity to get to know and appreciate a lot of Asian cuisines. Forget about the Mexican, get to understand the whole panoply of local offerings.

Having lived outside NY (yes I know it's not the same as in Manhattan) and in HK, I must say I like HK much better. Your results may very. People like different things.


I will say this: DON'T try to "replicate" NYC here. You will only be disappointed no matter what. Not because HK is "worse" per se, but because they are so different. One can compare ad nauseam, but in the end HK is HK and NYC is NYC. Different places. I love living HK and think the "only for making money" description is a bit overblown. There is plenty of stuff to do in HK, but it might not be the same stuff as you do in NYC. Stellar hiking 15 minutes from Central comes to mind. You sure can't find the HK hikes and their incredible views in any other metropolis I can think of. Another thing, as mentioned by woods99, is the closeness to places like Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, The Philippines and so on.



"Are there any former New Yorkers out there who have made this move?"


There are plenty. You could contact the American Club. Their intros are a good way to meet other Americans. Not that you will need to. If you live in an "expat area" you'll meet tons of expats, American and non. Every one of these people has also moved to HK at some point and you will find you have a lot in common.


"Do you get good western concerts (for example: Jay-Z, U2, Lady Gaga, Nickelback, Coldplay, etc...)? Do Broadway tours ever make it out there? Cirque-du-soleil? What about sports - what kind of big sporting events happen?"


As mentioned above, you get some of that, in HK and Macau, but it's not New York or Vegas in this respect. For sporting events you do get the yearly Rugby Sevens. This feels pretty big to me, seeing as everyone and their dog seems to go or talk about it.


"1) any good mexican restaurants (I went to the one in LKF and find it lacking), 2) any good italian restaurants, 3) any good southern US BBQ restaurants?"


Don't know about Mexican or Southern BBQ, but HK has several stellar Italian restaurants including Gaia, Isola, Costa and Joia. Note that these are Italian, not Italian-American.


Again, don't try to replicate NYC. You might not find Mexican but you will find excellent restaurants serving a plethora of Asian cuisines.



"The next question will probably be considered strange by most people. But understand that I have lived in Manhattan for five years now and havent owned a car the entire time and am DYING to have a car in HK. Does HK have Jeep Wranglers? I cant find a dealer on the internet so have no idea. If not, how hard would it be to import one?"


As mentioned above, if you live in "downtown" HK you need a car even less than on Manhattan. Public transport is safe, efficient and cheap. Taxis are cheap. Parking is very expensive.


I have never seen any Jeeps in HK. This is more Land Rover country, though unfortunately for you they haven't made a canvas top in years. If there are any, you could try Vin's Motors. Google it. You can also email them and ask. They do tend to know what cars can be found.


As for import, you would first have to check if the Wrangler is made with right hand drive. In any case I have heard it is expensive, but I am not sure.



Final tip: If your company does not pay for a 1-2 day orientation (they should) I recommend you arrange for one yourself. It gives you a tremendous head start and will make the transition much easier.

We love HK. But..... I wish there is a way to import breathable air, esp during winter. Aiyah !


Suggest you get used to HK for a few months without the Wrangler, and then, decide. Car-wise, it's a very different lifestyle.

Actually not so different from Manhattan in that a car is more hindrance than help in large parts of HK. Very different from most other places though.


I definitely agree with &&&s sentiment. Wait a few months and see how you get along before deciding on a car.

Aggghhh - especially the pollution today!!

Thanks everyone for all the responses!


I definitely get the whole car thing, as manhattan is exactly the same way. In all honesty, I thought moving to HK would be a nice way to get back into surfing. I havent surfed since I moved to NYC - while you can surf in NYC, its just not worth the two hour subway trip to get to Rockaway beach and two hour trip back (sacrilegious comment to some, I know). So I figured a Jeep that I could throw my board into would make perfect sense... But, to your advice axptguy38, i will probably hold off a bit before making that decision.


I do have one burning question after reading everyone's response. If HK is all about making money (probably overstated to an extent just as it is in NYC), then how do you spend your money? You would think that cultural events ala NYC would be huge in a money center such as HK. I understand what you are saying axptguy38 and Franklin, and am not looking to recreate another NYC. But I view HK as one of only a few true global cities. Is this a completely wrong impression? Or would you say that demand is there, its just not being satisfied... Seems like the city is just filled with opportunity if thats the case...


Yeah - I think the coolest thing about living in Hk is that I am so close to all these amazing places in Asia. But I wont be out of town every weekend :)

You can pretty much forget about surfing in Hong Kong.


There are plenty of things to spend money on, but do remember that Hong Kong is basically a Chinese city, so you can hardly expect western culture to be particularly important.

jobin - does it matter for the purposes of your response if the OP is male or female?

Woods99,


theree is good surfing here if you make the effort Big Wave Bay and Tai Long Sai Wan, when the wind is right Long Ke and Pak Lap. Some guys surf on the reef just of Clearwater Bay Golf Course. Had some guy canoe surfing in the wake of my boat on Thursday he had a ball and I tried to keep my speed so that he could keep a good surf great fun for the boring bit of a speed restriction zone.

190k,


Thanks for the correction. I have never seen any decent waves at Big Wave Bay, but then again I have never gone looking at the right times (I am a swimmer, not a boardrider).

"If HK is all about making money (probably overstated to an extent just as it is in NYC), then how do you spend your money?"


Our biggest outlays are RENT (deserves to be capitalized) and schooling. Our leisure money goes into restaurant and bar visits, other leisure type activities like Ocean Park, hobbies (electronics and hiking gear in our case) and travel.


"Or would you say that demand is there, its just not being satisfied... Seems like the city is just filled with opportunity if thats the case..."


As others have said, cultural activities exist in spades, but a lot of them cater to the Chinese. You may find that you don't have much of an interest in that stuff. Example: there are cantopop concerts all the time, but not a lot of Westerners are into that kind of music.



"But I view HK as one of only a few true global cities. Is this a completely wrong impression?"


According to various "global cities" definitions, HK is not quite at the level of NYC or London, but just under. However that really depends on how you define it. "Global city" for one person is not the same as for another.

Singapore and China has a lot more cool acts and bands going there. Hong Kong's mother tongue is Cantonese. Singapore gets alot of nice acts cause mother tongue is English, China cause there is the mass there. In HK Western music act will be drawing on a smaller pool unless ofcourse if the band in question is Coldplay & U2 etc...

Woods99, to 190k's point, I have heard you can surf in HK....in a similar manner as you can surf in NYC. Its not the best, but it certainly beats the alternative (nothing)...


Jobin - dont see how it helps but I am a 30 year old male. Question for you - what kind of other activities open up with ample money? I do expect to hit the links as often as possible.


I have heard that the boat scene is quite popular in HK. Any insight into that?


Thanks again.

Mark Jones makes some very valid points. :)


"I have heard that the boat scene is quite popular in HK. Any insight into that?"


Very popular. If you are into boats, I would look into joining the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club.


"what kind of other activities open up with ample money?"


There's a club that lets you drive a variety of supercars for x days a month. There are also a variety of exclusive social clubs like the Aberdeen Marina Club. In general, I would say you will have no problem finding stuff than will separate you for your money.

Sorry, a long post (I thought about my answers).


The best thing about HK is the people you meet. Don’t think there is a place like it. The reality (happy to be corrected and to have good suggestions how to achieve) is that you will be unlikely to make any close local friends, so while you can meet lots of overseas born/educated Chinese, just not real local ones – part language, mainly I find we have little to add to their already very full lives, so they are very pragmatic and don’t bother too much (so don’t take it personally when your next door neighbour or colleague closes the lift door on you the first day).


That said, if you do venture to chah cha tengs (local tea houses, Tsui Wah is an institution) or dai pai dongs (local street vendors – get in quick before the owners die as the license can’t be passed down – pork buns, noodles, strong milk tea, condensed milk toast) you will find a whole world that it interesting even if not your thing. Mong Kok should be experienced once.


The rest of the stuff you want and are used to can easily be found in HK and/or wider Asia (including Australia), and you will find how you think about such things changes – now it will be do you have enough time/money/annual leave to get to London/Sydney/Bali and back for a long-weekend event.


If you have financial restrictions, save your pennies by not buying a car for a few years and you can travel outside HK say twice a month for long weekends (lots do it for 1-5 years till they get tired or have kids etc); if no financial restrictions then you can immediately start planning to:


• surf or dive (I think Indonesia, Philippines, Australia)

• shop till you drop in Tokyo (as good as NYC if you can fit in the clothes)

• crash at great hotels and spas in Bangkok or Bali (affordable)

• take a longer trip to Europe for more classic cultural activities (operas, museums)

• head to a Canto-pop concert, or another Asia artist (Rain was in town recently)

• HK is better these days for concerts and a few acts have come by recently including: Duffy, One Republic, Jason Mraz, John Legend, Kelly Clarkson, The Kooks – some are private concerts, so encourages you to be nice to oldies (they typically have the connections).

• The Killers are coming to HK soon, as are Green Day.

• Lady Gaga and Linkin Park were in Macau recently

• Nothing like NYCs rolling concert schedule, still one has to work some time

• And there are small indie artist concerts that you must keep your ears open for (some of the better concerts in my opinion but irregular)


You can learn more about other sports (cultures?). This will mean that before you buy a Jeep Wrangler you will now watch Top Gear (UK car show) and will instead follow their recommendation and buy “the coolest car in the world ever, bar none”, a Land Rover 90 Defender.


You will find out first hand that about 10 people actually watch the rugby 7s each March in HK (after you find out what Rugby 7s are), the other 29,990 or so get stinkingly happily drunk (including the many children and teetotallers). You will learn something about soccer/football/cricket and can travel to world events with fanatics you will meet.


The boating world is another to itself. Once you join you will never be seen on weekends again and you will be the go to person to find out about weather and pollution patterns.


Ignore the unhappy ones who bitch or boast too much, there are bores everywhere. And it will be fun till its not, then you too should then leave HK before you become the bore. Easy huh.

spaceren, stellar post, especially the last sentence. There are people who see the negatives everywhere. Think positive and you will find HK to be a very nice place to live.

Agree - great post spaceren.