Your top tips for a new girl moving to HK!

Hi there,


I’m moving out to Hong Kong from the UK in April and would really appreciate some ‘beginner’s advice’.


I’m right at start of the move process – I don’t have a job or apartment arranged, yet.


I was out to scope out opportunities over Christmas and New Year and am a bit overwhelmed with info.


I’ve heard employers won’t take you seriously unless you are living in the country, but on the other hand I’ve heard some companies can help with relocation costs.


I’d like to live in central/soho/mid levels. Is flat sharing popular?


If you were to give me 3 top tips on moving to Hong Kong, what would they be?!


Thanks in advance!

My top tips. Hmmm.

- Expect it to be different. Don't try to clone your past life.

- Learn at least something of the local culture.

- Make a budget that is conservative, then double it. Goes for any move.

Rumdoodle, I think it is unfair to say there is no local culture. It may not be what a Westerner thinks of as culture, but it does exist.


If yo hate HK so much, why are you here?

Arguing about how much culture there is here is not really a top tip... not sure what you're moving here with no job, so top 3+ questions are in order - do you have amazing skills and/or qualifications that no local has? Do you speak Cantonese and/or Mandarin? Are you in a field that's booming/short of staff? Do you have money to cushion yourself till you get a job offer, if you actually get one? Any friends here who can help you out, hold your hand?

The areas you are interested in living in are expensive, so either you're worthy of a high paying job, or you're going to be happy living in a shoe box.

Don't listen to anyone who tells you culture doesn't exist here - I assume they're defining it narrowly as in arts, literature etc (still exists) rather than a way to describe a whole way of life, which of course is different in every country.

Good luck!

As sistim says culture exists as long as you don't define it too narrowly from a western perspective.

You asked for 3 tips. I've got four. Here goes:


(1.) Do your clothes shopping before you come out here and don't buy anything here, if you can avoid it. If you start buying stuff after you arrive, you may gradually end up rocking Crocs w/socks, cheetah-spotted tights, a down jacket, and an LV bag with a fur-tail zipper pull.


(2.) Wherever you live, make sure that the sidewalks from your building to wherever you'll be catching taxis or boarding public transit are wide, preferably wide enough to accommodate 4-5 people walking side by side. Nothing will spoil your morning like either being bumped into the traffic by locals or bumping locals into the street and getting cursed at. Wide sidewalks will decrease the likelihood of this happening.


(3.) Always carry reading material (magazines, a book, a phone/Kindle loaded with ebooks, or something similar) with you. Maybe some noise-canceling headphones as well. Without getting into a discussion of the aesthetic merits of Cantonese as a language or the customary volume at which conversation is conducted here or the proclivity of some towards performing their personal grooming in public (i.e. digging out ear wax while sitting next to you), reading material and headphones might help you carve out some personal mental space even under trying, crowded conditions. Also, I'd recommend carrying one or more packs of facial tissues and a resealable packet of pre-moistened wipes with you.


(4.) If you sometimes take over-the-counter pain relievers (like Tylenol), buy big bottles of them and pack them in your luggage. That sort of stuff is sold practically by the capsule/pill/whatever here. That goes double for cough drops. The pollution in HK is awful much of the time (bright side: beautiful sunsets) and many people suffer in silence with sore throats. You can get cough lozenges but, again, in little packets rather than big bags.

Too many scare mongers on a Monday. Here are mine.

1. Bring an open mind and an adventurous heart. The rest will take care of themselves.


2. Make sure your passport is up to date and has lots of empty pages. You will probably travel around Asia quite a bit while here.


3. Line up interviews with many headhunters as the job seeking season is around Chinese New Year which is in early Feb this year.


Good luck and have fun.

Culture is not only (Western) music and plays. What about all the Chinese New Year traditions, Chinese opera, the food? What about all the classical concerts I constantly see advertised?

I thought this had been discussed and we had all agreed to disagree. Hong Kong culture is not Western entertainment. To name a few cultural items:


It is the old ladies banging curses out under the CWB bridge.

It is the regular visits to a cemetery to pay respect, and it is the holidays that support this custom.

It is the Chinese New Year dinner, and the visiting of friends, and the ritual of what to eat, wear, say, do.

It is the 20 sold out shows from Canto stars – Janet Jackson’s one show tickets still on sale!

It is the red stuff, paper, clothes, laisee, lanterns.

It is the food.

It is eating at 2am.

It is the getting up and going to eat at 4am because that’s when a special shop opens or is about to closes.

It is the keeping of complex characters despite the mainland move to simplified.

It is the understanding of complex family relationships and an attempt to keep them.


And Hong Kong has enough Western entertainment too. Get off your butts and buy a ticket to Janet. Taylor Swift is sold out. See Maroon Five. Gorillaz anybody? There are choices these days. Goodness, buy Time Out and educate yourself.


Tips: an open mind, an open purse (things can be expensive) and keep away from whiners.

Keep an open mind when you arrive, it's not the UK so don't expect it to be. It still surprises me the number of people who complain that 'something or other is not like it is back home' (insert UK, USA, etc for home). Surely that's one of the reasons for moving to another country..?


HK is hectic - some like that, some hate it. You prob won't know until you get here which camp you're in. Only one way to find out though...


One big positive - it is a lot lot safer than your average city in the UK. Others include; no cold wintery rain - when it rains at least it's hot unlike the UK; no snowy, icy wintery mornings trying to scrape ice off the car windshield; lots of Country Parks for hiking, running, mtn biking, etc; some decent beaches although water quality is admittedly variable (bad at most, average at some, occasional beaches decent); the low tax rate; etc.


Negatives - the pollution; smaller apartments; etc.


But as Philly Cheese says it's only a short hop to some great resorts and beaches to de-stress when things get too hectic.

Best advice so far on this thread by hkxxxpat:-


"an open mind, an open purse (things can be expensive) and keep away from whiners"

Some practical things. You need to have Health Insurance - private health care is very expensive here and you need to have a HK ID card for Government clinics which you won't get until you have a job. HK-ers dress fairly conservatively at work, so come prepared with suitable clothes, and if you are a dress size above US 10 you may want to stock up on clothes. Flat-sharing is available, check this site, Gumtree HK and HK magazine which is a free weekly paper easily found around town, check coffee shops etc. Good luck!