Hong Kong

Jotun

Jotun

Jotun

Soldato
Joined
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Liverpool
Hi Guys, I'm going to Hong Kong this summer for 6 weeks, I've got a few questions about it and was hoping someone who's been there before can help me out.

I believe official languages are Chinese and English, would I be able to get by without knowing any Chinese? Do most signs have English translations and most people there speak English, or is this less common? Would people be offended or think I was rude for not knowing any Chinese? If i were to try and learn the basics, presumably I should aim to learn the spoken side rather than the written side?

Am I correct in thinking that in Hong Kong the same power sockets & voltages are used as in the UK, so any electronics should just plug straight in?

Are the prices of electrical goods there cheaper than in the UK? I'm after a compact camera which I was considering buying before I go, but if I'd save a noticeable amount then I'd also consider waiting till I got there to buy one. Although I'd guess there's a chance that the warranty may not be valid in the UK I suppose. I notice there's always electrical goods on ebay from Hong Kong which are priced competitively, even with international postage, so I'd expect that I could get a camera over there for a fair bit cheaper?

I'll be staying at CUHK doing a couple of courses over the summer so I'm expecting to spend a fair bit of time around there if it makes any difference :)
 
Stuff isn't any cheaper, particularly not with the £ being so weak now.

While Chinese and Englisha re the official languages Cantonese is the most commonly spoken, with few people speaking much English (even less outside of the main Island).
 
You can get away with just speaking english. All signs will have english.
Same power sockets.
Electrical goods are generally cheaper than you would find in shops here but if you shop online, prices will be pretty much the same.
If you're going to buy expensive electrical goods, make sure there is a worldwide warranty.

If you're looking for bargains, don't shop in the main electrical stores (Broadway, Fortress etc.) Go to places like here but just make sure you don't get ripped off.
 
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Gotta reiterate what someone else said - be careful you're not being ripped off! Dodgy electronic dealers (even shops that look legit) and also taxi drivers. Basically just use public transport and triple check you're getting the real deal when you buy electronic equipment - though to be honest you won't be getting much of a deal these days.

Apart from that it's an awesome place and very friendly people
 
With regards to learning some Chinese, just remember that because it will be Hong Kong, or pretty much most of Southern China like the Guangdong province, the dialect will predominatly be Cantonese Chinese. Obviously you can still get by with Standard Mandarin, but Cantonese is where it is official in their region. Chinese has a lot of diffierent dialects so it will be quite confusing to a beginner.
 
Lei ho! Everyone speaks cantonese and most people you meet will speak some english too. Basically the poorer someone is, the less likely they are to speak english. The only time you might get caught out is getting a taxi back to your hotel. Sometimes the driver won't recognise the english name of where you're staying so take the hotel's card to show them just in case!

Don't bother trying to learn the written side - it'll be a complete waste of time. Useful phrases are:

hello - lay ho
mmm-goy - this means lots of things like hey! and thank you and sometimes please (you can add sai on the end when saying thank you)
to ask where somewhere is you say the name of the place followed by hi bin doh (I think the bin should have a slightly higher tone than the hi and doh)
hiya means yes/that's right
no is mmm-sai
if you want to say you like a girl say - lay ho saw :)

Tip: add laa on the end of every sentence to sound like a local :p ok laa?

Note I am not cantonese and there is no pinyin for it so these spellings are just phonetic and not common. Also my memory is not 100% so there may be mistakes!

If you want to eat where the locals eat (good idea in my opinion) I would learn the phrase for english menu so you can ask places if they have one. I can't remember what it is though (something like yingman tampa? maybe someone else can help). Best going out place is lang kwai fong by a mile (although drinks are the same price as central london :eek:). Shek O is the best beach although it's far out (my boss lived in a house next to the beach). Lamma island is worth a visit - espeically if you come back at night-time.

Yes the golden computer arcade and similar places are cheaper than all the broadways (the green electrical shop everywhere)/fortress (the orange electrical shop everywhere) but if you buy the wrong thing don't expect a refund. I bought a nice canon and a psp when out there and saved a few bob but with the exchange rate now I reckon prices will be equal to here. If you buy a psp remember that umds are region locked but you pay a premium for a japanese one (which is in the same region as us).

Dim sum dim sum dim sum om nom nom nom :)

I spent 10 weeks there last summer and it was awesome so have fun!

edit: get an octopus card first thing - you can get it at the airport.
 
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bibalasvegas said:
Best going out place is lang kwai fong by a mile (although drinks are the s

ame price as central london :eek:).
.
Click to expand...
I would say drinks are much more expensive that central London, problem is this is about the only decent nightlife

everywhere is very,very expensive to drink so take advantage of happy hours early evening
 
Jotun said:
Hi Guys, I'm going to Hong Kong this summer for 6 weeks, I've got a few questions about it and was hoping someone who's been there before can help me out.

I believe official languages are Chinese and English, would I be able to get by without knowing any Chinese? Do most signs have English translations and most people there speak English, or is this less common? Would people be offended or think I was rude for not knowing any Chinese? If i were to try and learn the basics, presumably I should aim to learn the spoken side rather than the written side?

Am I correct in thinking that in Hong Kong the same power sockets & voltages are used as in the UK, so any electronics should just plug straight in?

Are the prices of electrical goods there cheaper than in the UK? I'm after a compact camera which I was considering buying before I go, but if I'd save a noticeable amount then I'd also consider waiting till I got there to buy one. Although I'd guess there's a chance that the warranty may not be valid in the UK I suppose. I notice there's always electrical goods on ebay from Hong Kong which are priced competitively, even with international postage, so I'd expect that I could get a camera over there for a fair bit cheaper?

I'll be staying at CUHK doing a couple of courses over the summer so I'm expecting to spend a fair bit of time around there if it makes any difference :)
Click to expand...

Watch out for fake goods. Make sure there is instructions as the fake ones often don't. We got a decent memory card for the camera pretty cheap over there.

We were fine only knowing English.
 
HK is very English tourist friendly :) Most signs have English translations and most people under 30 I think have been educated in English and Mandarin as well as their native Cantonese.

Things were only a little bit cheaper when I last went there in Summer 08, so I'll imagine they'll actually be dearer now :( If you do buy something, try to barter lower price and more goodies (this works even in large electronic stores).

I think they'll appreciate attempts at speaking the language, even if they do secretly mock your bad accent :p So get a phrase book.

There are a lot of fast Chinese food restaurants (like McDonald's but with Chinese food - except cooked with fresh ingredients and in nice portions) which will get you by during day times :)
 
Six weeks! Is there enough to do in HK for six weeks as a tourist? I lived there for two and a half years but I was working.

Get a suit made while you're there. Pacific Custom Tailors in Pacific Place is very good. More expensive than the street ones but much better quality and will last longer.

Go to Macau. The Lisboa casino is an extraordinary place.

I would struggle to be a tourist for more than a fortnight!
 
Go to **** Kok! Its a big outdoor market where you can get some amazing fake items for cheap prices if you haggle. A good tactic is to just walk away, and the prices will start tumbling. Another tactic is to say you had it cheaper elsewhere, and haggle each person lower until you reach a good price.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, really appreciate the information, very useful :)

I was thinking of picking up a compact camera, but if there's not going to be much of a saving (if any), and the lack of a warranty, and chance of getting a dodgy one I'll just buy one over here before I leave :)

I've got a couple more questions.

How easily can you get accommodation - how much notice would you have to give to book a room, and how much is it likely to cost roughly? My course ends on the 5th of august, my flight back is on the 10th, so I'll have a few days free, although there's a tour to Shanghai that runs from the 5th to the 8th which I may book a place for so I might only need accommodation for 2 nights.

My mobile supports GSM & 3G so I presume I'd be able to connect to the mobile networks there, but is it worth trying to pick up a pay as you go sim card? According to the o2 website, calls will cost 199p/minute :eek:


MikeTimbers said:
Six weeks! Is there enough to do in HK for six weeks as a tourist? I lived there for two and a half years but I was working.

Get a suit made while you're there. Pacific Custom Tailors in Pacific Place is very good. More expensive than the street ones but much better quality and will last longer.

Go to Macau. The Lisboa casino is an extraordinary place.

I would struggle to be a tourist for more than a fortnight!
Click to expand...

It's not a full 6 weeks as a tourist really, I'm actually going to the university to do a couple of courses there which run on Tuesday-Thursday which will leave me with Friday-Monday free to do what I want, so it's not a solid 6 weeks of sightseeing, but I will have a fair bit of time free.

bibalasvegas said:
Lei ho! Everyone speaks cantonese and most people you meet will speak some english too. Basically the poorer someone is, the less likely they are to speak english. The only time you might get caught out is getting a taxi back to your hotel. Sometimes the driver won't recognise the english name of where you're staying so take the hotel's card to show them just in case!

Don't bother trying to learn the written side - it'll be a complete waste of time. Useful phrases are:

hello - lay ho
mmm-goy - this means lots of things like hey! and thank you and sometimes please (you can add sai on the end when saying thank you)
to ask where somewhere is you say the name of the place followed by hi bin doh (I think the bin should have a slightly higher tone than the hi and doh)
hiya means yes/that's right
no is mmm-sai
if you want to say you like a girl say - lay ho saw :)

Tip: add laa on the end of every sentence to sound like a local :p ok laa?

Note I am not cantonese and there is no pinyin for it so these spellings are just phonetic and not common. Also my memory is not 100% so there may be mistakes!

If you want to eat where the locals eat (good idea in my opinion) I would learn the phrase for english menu so you can ask places if they have one. I can't remember what it is though (something like yingman tampa? maybe someone else can help). Best going out place is lang kwai fong by a mile (although drinks are the same price as central london :eek:). Shek O is the best beach although it's far out (my boss lived in a house next to the beach). Lamma island is worth a visit - espeically if you come back at night-time.

Yes the golden computer arcade and similar places are cheaper than all the broadways (the green electrical shop everywhere)/fortress (the orange electrical shop everywhere) but if you buy the wrong thing don't expect a refund. I bought a nice canon and a psp when out there and saved a few bob but with the exchange rate now I reckon prices will be equal to here. If you buy a psp remember that umds are region locked but you pay a premium for a japanese one (which is in the same region as us).

Dim sum dim sum dim sum om nom nom nom :)

I spent 10 weeks there last summer and it was awesome so have fun!

edit: get an octopus card first thing - you can get it at the airport.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, I will have a look in to learning some basic Cantonese, I've heard some good things about the Pimsleur approach so I will probabaly give that a go :)

greywolf said:
Fancy bring me back a crate of danbo's? :D
Click to expand...
I only get a 20KG luggage allowance, so probabaly not a good idea :p
 
Been to HK a few times - be prepared for a hot and humid summer :p you can also pop over to Shen Zhen which isn't very far by train/bus but you need a visa in advance.

Food is great - loads of small cheap places to eat out, great for shopping but I don't think it is very cheap anymore with the exchange rate!

If you want to buy something expensive like a camera, make your mind up before you go in the shop which you want, and what price you want to pay - otherwise you will get ripped off - you can't get a refund.
 
Go to Golden Computer Market even if just to experience it but without a local that can haggle don't bother to buy anything expensive and ignore the handsome man comments you may get. :P

Book a holiday to Macau!!! Every casino there is an experience! One hotel had a chandelier at least 4 floors long and the most impressive buffet cart I've ever seen in my life! Another hotel had a hoard of hookers walking down the hallways dressed in all sorts of outfits. If you take the jetboat in a typhoone prepare to throw up or hear everyone else around you

Go to the Peak for the view and possibly the highest point which is also somewhere but you can only get to it by car. I can't remeber the name of it although it was pitch black (at night) and all I could see was some bats and a cow and some lights in the distance.

Go to Ngong Ping to see the buddah but just ignore the fake tourist town they make you walk through to get to it.

Use the sports facitlities at night and play with the locals!!! Just don't do it in a typhoon like we did.

Everything you buy from the market in **** Kok will break as soon as soon as you get home but haggling with the store owners is fun. Go to take5&co and buy some jeans although you'll have a hell of time trying to look for the shop.

Also go to the beach. You need to get a mini bus from wichever station is for the beach.

Go to the clubs. They're all in one area and club number 9 is pretty cool. They're all located inside buildings but when you're in the right place you'll be able to find them fine.

Also play snooker in **** Kok!

Sorry I have no idea where anything was but it was pretty hot!
 
Oh and if you go to Macau, make sure you get a return ferry ticket in advance - we tried to get the ferry back at 2:00 and all tickets were sold out so we had to go back to the casino till 6:30 :o
 
Jotun said:
I've got a couple more questions.

How easily can you get accommodation - how much notice would you have to give to book a room, and how much is it likely to cost roughly? My course ends on the 5th of august, my flight back is on the 10th, so I'll have a few days free, although there's a tour to Shanghai that runs from the 5th to the 8th which I may book a place for so I might only need accommodation for 2 nights.

My mobile supports GSM & 3G so I presume I'd be able to connect to the mobile networks there, but is it worth trying to pick up a pay as you go sim card? According to the o2 website, calls will cost 199p/minute :eek:
Click to expand...

You don't need to book in advance for accommodation. The cheapest place which is central is chung king mansions in tsim sha tsui but it looks like/is a drug dealing den! :p I can't really remember prices though...

I got a sim card while I was out there - you can get them from 7 elevens and the like. Used it a lot and only put about £10 on it so it's definitely worth it. Also, you're much more likely to organise meeting up with locals and stuff if you and they can text/call each other cheaply. The only problem is when topping up because you have to try and follow the instructions in cantonese which is rather confusing and impossible to follow! Best to get the person you buy the card off to top up for you.
 
The peak is brilliant - we went up in the tram. The views are amazing at the top - went both day and night. The racecourse aswell is quite good and Ocean Park which has Dolphins and Roller Coasters, etc.
 
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