You Can Live Off Hk Island Happily

Having resided at the Peak for the past 8 years a change in circumstance, namely the requirement for my 82 year old mother to live with us, meant we had to re-evaluate our living environment. My home on the Peak, despite its 2,600sq ft with 1,300sq ft garden was simply not big enough to accomodate another adult and additional helper. So we began to look around, initially wanting to stay at the Peak or nearby. With property prices in Hong Kong ridiculously high, even the sale of the Peak was not going to get me what I wanted. So I looked further afield and was amazed at what I found. Being an 'island dweller' and not being a fan of Sai Kung etc I looked at other areas and ended up buying a 4,000 sq ft 'house' with a garden etc at The Vineyard in Yuen Long. It's beautiful and accomodates all the humans, the three dogs and the four cars easily. The air is cleaner, weekends spent walking in the stunning surrounding countryside or relaxing either in the garden or the club house, with its olympic sized pool etc are wonderful. The drive to 'central' takes literally 25 mins along highway 3 and I get to see the magnificence that is Hong Kong. I will admit I have cheated slightly, is so much as I have also purchased a smaller 2 bedroom apartment still on the Peak, so weekdays if I do not want to drive out to Yuen Long, I can still just pop up the hill. But, the truth is, when I stay on the island now, I miss my home near the border and cannot wait to get back out there - there is life off HK Island - and it's worth finding.

mrsmith - I agree, I have also moved my office from Queen's Road Central to Kwun Tong, saving thousands in rent and making my staff happier as they do not need to cross the tunnels etc .... HK has land to spare, yet we cram into the island, all for pretense !

Great post indeed - also wealthy people can make sensible choices and stop paying extra premium only for image-related reasons.

If I may vent a contrarian opinion here:


I'm one of those weird people who really didn't like living in a house. We had a nice suburban house in a nice neighborhood in a nice town with a nice garden and I was miserable. I would have been bored to tears if I hadn't been traveling so much. All I really wanted was an apartment complex with friends I could meet without driving to see them. Don't get me wrong, we had nice neighbors, but nothing like here in HK. You see, they were "house" people who had live in the neighborhood their entire life. That thought actually frightened me. Ok so maybe I exaggerate. ;)


I like the closeness and even revel in the crowding (within reason). Granted I live on South Side so it's not THAT crowded but still we get congestion, honking cars, guards yelling at errant parkers on the parking lot, kids running in the place upstairs. Love it love it love it!


So no, it's not always "image related". Certainly not in our case. We're just "city oriented" I guess.


While I can appreciate why some people move to Sai Kung or Clearwater Bay, I would go nuts. ;)



I also think that HK wouldn't be HK without the insanity of the Island with skyscrapers piled on top of each other and streets winding up and down hills. Sometimes more rational means less quirky and charming, despite the advantages.

I live on HK island as well (not in a fancy address) but I have to say that on the Peak you certainly will pay the image related price.

axptguy38 you have a point, at that is why I still retain an apartment on Barker Road, but the place at Yuen Long, The Vineyard offers a wonderful way of life and my dogs have never been happier ......

If you like it more power to you. Just not for me. Maybe someday. Never say never and all that. ;)