Moving to Hong Kong FAQs

In this stage of my exploration of the cost of living in Hong Kong, we get out of the supermarkets and check out some of the other day-to-day expenses expatriates face in this costly city.

If you're interested in the earlier price comparisons I did for food, you can find them here and here.

If you’ve been offered a job here, you’ve no doubt asked yourself this question.

Here are some tips to help you reach an answer.

A few weeks ago I introduced a new component in our set of articles on the cost of living in Hong Kong. In that first installment, I compared the prices of fresh produce and meats in Hong Kong's markets, ordinary supermarkets, and high-end 'expat-oriented' food halls.

If you’ll be living in Hong Kong for several months or longer, why not learn Tai Chi? As a memento of Hong Kong, it’s much easier to take home than Chinese furniture, and it’s good for your health too!

There are a variety of courses on offer. You can choose from further education centres (e.g. YMCA), fitness centres (e.g. California Fitness), or even the free sessions run by the HK Tourist Board. But if you’d like to make some local friends at the same time, and can be a bit flexible with your schedule, there’s another option.

I didn't intend to come to Hong Kong at all. Instead I was heading to Australia courtesy of their working holiday visa. But, there was a lady I'd met previously in Canada that I'd taken a fancy to. She was living in Hong Kong, so I thought I'd stop here on the way.

Question: I'm now experiencing doubts about moving to Hong Kong from the UK. Should I do it?

Mr B replies: I'm biased, but I'd say give it a go. Some people like it and end up staying "for maybe another year", and end up finding they've been here for ten or more. A fair number find themselves having enjoyed it, but looking forward to going home at the end of their 2-year contract.

I've only ever met one person that couldn't wait to leave. He was out here because his wife had been posted here. He had to have chips with every meal, hated Chinese food, didn't like foreign people, and spent his time here living in a little British bubble. If that sounds like you, you might not enjoy it either, but if it's just a case of butterflies, I'd advise you to take the plunge.

Question: How has Hong Kong changed since 1997? Is it no longer a good place to live? What does the future hold?

Mr Tall replies: Obviously, this is a contentious issue on which speculation is easy, and finding definitive answers hard indeed. My impression is that Hong Kong is just as good a place to live these days as it was when I arrived in 1990, but not for all the same reasons. In some ways, the living here for a westerner is easier than ever, with better, more affordable housing, better transport, and better access to western restaurants/foods/other amenities. But these improvements have been offset to some degree by threats to the status of the rule of law in Hong Kong, and broad, long-term concerns over the future of China in general.

Question: Don't people in Hong Kong drive on the left? I'm coming from the USA/continental Europe/etc., and I'm used to driving on the right. Will I be able to adapt?

A reader replies: We drive on the left in right hand drive cars. This is a British thing. In fact our traffic lights, road signs, markings, etc. are exactly as they are in the UK. China drives on the right like the US, which makes things interesting for cross border traffic.

Mr Tall adds: Switching sides of the road when driving isn't a big deal. I learned to drive in the States, on the right, and thought I might have a lot of trouble at first driving in HK. That wasn't the case at all. Your brain simply flips everything around quite automatically -- at least mine did. I actually found it harder to adjust to being a pedestrian here than to being a driver, since when you're walking across the street, it seems easier to forget which direction you need to check first for oncoming traffic.