What is Hong Kong Like? (rent, hotels, buy)

[Shomari]

I am intrested in learning the Hong Kong culture.Is it just like China or does it have its own vibe?I am an african american male,and I am trying to learn the asian culture.I also would like to know how are african americans veiwed in Hong Kong ? All advice will be apreciated.Thank you!

[NJ Chutzpah]

It definitely has its own vibe, but I was there over a decade ago, so things may have changed

but when I was there, it was a lot like NYC was back when it was gritty, less gentrification

it was a great place to visit, had lots of energy, absolutely packed (densest city in the world)

the was truely a First World meets Third World kinda place

The People were Third World, but the architecture, amenities, services were definitely on par with places like Tokyo

it is actually like tokyo with chinese people instead

[Fnix]

I heard from a person that lives in Hong Kong that it is very americanized. I actually asked him how many americans and black people he sees in Hong Kong and he says on a daily basis, though more are on business then tourists. They think if you are black you are famous like a basket ball player or musician.

[jtur88]

Hong Kong is a very fragmented city, which gives it a special character. It''s a very hilly place, with many hillsides too steep to develop, so there are a lot of open green spaces between hundreds of "settlements". The number of people who spoke English was far less than I expected.

One thing that you should keep in mind as you travel abroad is that a lot of Africans are wandering around the world, and you will probly be taken for a "true" African, from Nairobi or Dakar or Lagos. Young men from Africa to not inspire a great deal of trust (many of them do not deserve it--they settle in and engage in dubous commerce), so you are among the truly rare Americans that OUGHT to sew your flag to your backpack. Try to look like a tourist---play down the bling and dress like the Germans.

[dlmui]

I don't think that Hong Kong is kinda the Third World. The city is totally different from the mainland China. Due to the influence of being British colony, we, Hong Kong people are really hard to find our own culture which is more like a mixture of the west and the east. The culture of the youngsters is more like the Japanese style instead. In terms of style, Fnix mentioned that it's americanized mainly b'coz of the Hollywood movies and McDonald's I think. Haha We're taught British English but we most likely spell and speak in the American's. I can tell that I can't speak English very well...

I do agree that it's absolutely packed as Hong Kong is a really small city. You can easily get to anywhere by metro. Nowadays, more and more mainland Chinese (we called them "free-walkers" – direct translation of individual travelers) come and visit or even stay in Hong Kong and they make the city more densely packed. For instance, the local Hong Kong people might sometimes go to those places-for-tourists. We're now less going due the the crowds. There are more and more "free-walkers".

As I was born in the 80s in Hong Kong, I can tell that the city was so much different after the Bristish colonial period. Feels like we're all controlled by another pack of Chinese. Many foreigners/Brits left their posts or went back to their countries right after Hong Kong was given back to China.

I also want to know how the foreigners or Americans view Hong Kong. Sorry for my poor English! May tell you more details as requested.

[bamba_boy]

Hong Kong is a fabulous city - maybe too expensive to live well but a wonderful place to visit or ,like me, go for short work projects. It's not third world at all - say compared to a place like Lagos. However, it's just a densly packed but has wonderful shopping, jaw-dropping architecture, and surprisingly cheap small restaurants and hawker stalls so if you don't stay in a real uppity hotel it's not as horribly expensive as many European cities. Also, it's basically a mountainous island (with a flat mainland area but that doesn't have the attractions) with a stupendously steep inclined railroad to The Peak, with its restaurant in the clouds looking down at the tops of skyscrapers spiking out of the valleys and ravines in the mountainside. The opposite side from downtown is like Melrose Blvd in LA but with beaches. As you can see, I'm describing what is really a one-of-a-kind in this world kind of city. I'd love to get a good-enough job to move there. I've been there also when the British ran it and the Reds haven't ruined it as I thought they would. It's still a real free-market powerhouse.

[bamba_boy]

Delmui, I'm an American from Texas, by the way, so I guess I answered your question from an outsider's point of view. How hard is it, in your opinion for a reasonably educated American citizen to get a work permit to work long-term (1-3 years)? I'm college-educated in natural sciences (MA).

[JMT]

My family lived in HK when I was in high school, and my parents returned later and lived there for another few years before returning to the US earlier this year.

I absolutely adore Hong Kong and could live there very easily. It's like a mixture of New York, Tokyo, London, and San Francisco. But unlike New York and San Francisco, Hong Kong has very little crime, very little garbage, and it's surprisingly clean. Air pollution is pretty bad, but they say it's because of all those factories just across the border in China where they have very little concern for air pollution.

Just being in Hong Kong is fun. It's got every form of public transportation imaginable, and they're all exciting: the Star Ferry, the double-decker trams, the double-decker buses, the world's longest outdoor escalator, minibuses, underground and above-ground trains, and more. Public transportation in HK is cheap, clean, and reliable. When I go to HK, I like just hopping on buses, not even caring where they end up. They're comfortable and offer fantastic views of the city from the upper floor.

Hotels can be a little expensive, but aside from that Hong Kong is a very inexpensive world city. Even McDonald's is cheaper there than here in the US. I have no idea how they do it since rent is so much more and everything has to be imported. It's probably as close to pure capitalism as there is on the planet.

The true bargains are found just across the border in Shenzhen. Gone are the days when you could buy a $3 fake Polo shirt on the streets of HK. But with malls the size of small American cities and open-air markets teeming with hawkers, it's still a great place to go shopping. For electronics, go to Mon Kok. The prices aren't a whole lot cheaper than you can get in the US, but the selection is dazzling. And for trinkets and souvenirs, you must go to Stanley Market. The bus ride alone is worth it--you must sit on the top floor of the bus in the front seats! Preferably take the bus that goes OVER the mountain and not through the tunnel. Similarly, if you take the Peak Tram up to Victoria Peak, be sure to take the bus back down to Central.

And the FOOD!!!! Holy cow it's impossible to have a bad meal in HK. You've got the best of everything in HK. The best Chinese food, the best Japanese food, the best French food, the best German food, and on and on. But the real treat is getting a bowl of noodles with its accompanying mystery meat from a vendor in the street. Who knows what you're eating, but who cares. Everyone else is eating it, it's cheap, and it's fantastic.

Hong Kong exudes frenetic energy. It's a perfect blend of Eastern and Western cultures. It's exciting, it's beautiful, and wish I could live there all over again.

Have fun!

And what the heck, here are some of my favorite pics from HK:

Repulse Bay



Stanley Village



Cheung Chau Island



Central



Star Ferry



Double-decker trams



World's longest outdoor escalator



Big Buddha



Mong Kok



Dr. Sun Yat Sen Museum

[foma]

People, lots and lots of people!!

[citius.altius.fortius]

HA! Way toooo many people! Too many hills. It's like a third rate NYC of China. Go to Thailand, Thai people love everyone and the scenery is to die!