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Anonymous
Hong Kong.

I've been interested in traveling to China and more specifically Hong Kong since I could remember.
The culture and history of the area is amazing, only second to that of Japan for me.

Have any of you been there? What was it like? Pro's / Cons? In the end was it worth the trip?

I'm looking for answers primarily from Americans and Canadians.
>> Anonymous
I haven't been to Hong Kong, only mainland cities, and mainland cities tend to differ from Hong Kong quite significantly I've heard.
Anyway what I've noticed:
Pros:
- THE BEST food. No kidding. Whether it be in a tiny market stall, or a nice restaurant, the food is absolutely amazing (and very cheap). The restaurants are pretty cool too, you can hire rooms for you and a group to eat in.
- Everything is very cheap (if you convert the price tags into Western currencies anyway)
- A thriving cultural scene
- Some extremely beautiful natural scenery if you move away from the urban areas a bit
- You'll never run out of things to see and do, no matter what part of China

Cons:
- Air is pretty hazy from pollution, though the level of pollution depends on where you go. It wasn't particularly bad where I went.
- Not very many people who can speak English (this won't be a problem in Hong Kong though)
- Traffic

There's more but that's all I can think of at the moment.
>> Anonymous
Went there in the summer of '05. For HK you can expect high humidity, but you'll get used to it.

The subway systems the way to go, using money deposited RFID cards that only needs to hover over the gate to get in. You CANNOT get lost being that there's english on most public signs (Then again I was living at the end of the Island line in Chai Wan).

Food is cheap, about 3 USD for a pretty big meal in fast food restaurants.

Theres limitless amount of places to go shopping. The tallest building in OP is the IFC which has stores on the first few floors and looked very high class.

Oh, and Disneyland.
>> Anonymous
It has been a while since I was in Hong Kong but here is what i remember:
China Vs. HK-
~Different Currency (yes Hong Kong has different Currency then China and will not except Chinese Yuan in most places)
~HK uses Cantonese Chinese as its primary language, not mandarin like the rest of China.
~HK is flat out more expensive. Unles you know where to go, everything costs about the same as in America, sometimes more in tourist areas.

Pros-
People speak English more commonly.
Usually more tourist friendly, in that things are in English and getting around without a taxi is easier.
People have more rights in HK then most of China.
The TV had English and Chinese subtitles allot of the time.

Con's:
Expensive
Expensive
Expensive
Really the only thing I remember having a problem with was how pricey everything was. other then that it was kool. Hope you have Fun.
>> Anonymous
>>24553

>only second to that of Japan for me.

2/10

But the Japan reference is too obvious.
>> Anonymous
Went to HK last autumn

Pros:
- coming from Finland, HK was fairly cheap (4 euros for a ramen meal? hell yeah)
- awesome buildings and amazing view from the peak
- clean city, best subway in the world, people are pretty friendly
- you won't get stared at 24/7 because you're over 6' or have blond hair

Cons
- the weather is really humid and hot at summer and the local fashion police apparently force everyone to wear jeans = you either really like heat, suffer, or wear unfashionably
- i can't recall the night life being too awesome, although admittedly i only visited one area on one night (although it also means no drunken idiots on fri/sat nights)

personally i really liked HK, it's an awesome place.
>> Anonymous
I lived in Japan for a year and traveled to HK for two weeks. Comparing them, HK's skyline is even better than Tokyo and as it is more even more international there's a better range of foreign foods, foreigners living there, and English spoken. About as expensive as Tokyo.

On the downside, HK is nowhere near as clean as Japan (although probably cleaner than the average Western city), the transport doesn't measure up to Japan but is better than most of the West/anywhere in America. HK also too hot/humid for half the year where as Japan is only so for a couple months a year.

The real thing that sets HK apart from Japan is the people and culture. Japanese tend to be a little more low key and polite but that's not really a big deal. What's huge is that if Japanese like you it's probably because they actually like you as person, or maybe they just like foreigners. In HK if someone likes you, especially a girl, it's for your money. Of course this applies to some extent all over the world but no where nearly as much as HK. In my two weeks there every single girl I met that seemed interested in me either directly, or more often indirectly tried to find out how much money I have/go shopping together/some shit. In Japan while walking down the street maybe someone is handing out free tissues with an advertisement on the package. In HK you can't take 5 steps as a foreigner without someone trying to hustle you into their shop. Fuckers would sell their own mother a worthless used car if it would make them a buck.
>> Anonymous
>>24599

Yeah, that seems true. Despite the fact that my grandpa is extremely generous and insisted on paying for every meal and hotel, and gave away hundreds of dollars to various poor relatives in mainland China, when he met his daughter in law's family in Hong Kong, he was looked down upon because he "only" had a net worth of about $1 million.

I mean, come on!
>> Anonymous
The thing I hated about Hong Kong:

-People try to sell you shit on the streets when you look foreign. I mean, they'll get in your face and beg you to buy a watch or a hotel room or whatever.
-The weather is horrendously humid. You will experience something called "Swamp Ass" during your entire stay. Expect 90 degrees in the afternoon with hazy humidity and 80 degrees at night. Yes, I said EIGHTY DEGREES at NIGHT! Also, the place is prone to Typhoons.
-The local life for most people is depressing. Most live in junky studio apartments.

Personally I liked Shanghai better. It's a more all-around Chinese experience.
CHILDREN PEE AND SHIT IN THE PUBLIC BUSES! It was hilarious and disgusting at the same time
>> Anonymous
>>24610
>CHILDREN PEE AND SHIT IN THE PUBLIC BUSES!
wat
in HK?
>> Anonymous
I love Hong Kong, the weather especially. But then agian, I am from England so anything warm is nice. Going back there in July for 2 weeks so I'm expecting the hottest weather known the man... About it being fucking hot at night, yeah it is, but everywhere has air conditioning so it will be ok. My hotel also has a pool on the roof so we're usually out there for a nightly swim, and I fucking love that. I don't find the weather to be any worse than Florida though...
>> Anonymous
>>24612
>Shanghai
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
I stayed in HK with some friends who are from HK. One from the heart of the big city, the other from the New Territories (aka the little bit that's in mainland Asia.) They showed me some wonderful sights/sites while I was there.

Hotels in down town area of HK are about as expensive as any first world country (expect to spend ~$40 a night) due to the sheer overcrowding. That said the place will be of good quality and probably have a good view. You don't have to shell out lots of cash for a crap room.

The rest of Hong Kong I found to be cheaper than Tokyo or big cities in the U.S. The more local the cuisine the cheaper it'll be (that goes for anyplace in the world. Sushi is cheaper than Burgers in Japan if you know the right places.) I'd recommend tracking down a nice place to have some Dim Sum. Mmmm soooo good. And unlike many places in the world, because of the relatively high Buddhist population vegetarian fare is not too hard to find.

Speaking of Buddhism, a great adventure we had was visiting the great bronze Buddha in the hinterlands of HK. It is the worlds largest freestanding outdoor bronze Buddha (lotta qualifiers on that one but it's still amazing and huge.)

Its a bit of a trek to get there (you've gotta take a train and a bus, both city and tourist buses go there) but they have an all Buddhist-friendly (again vegetarian) cafe at the temple below so you can get a tasty meal while you're there.

There are many beautiful places outside the central city so buy or check out at a library a travel guide and mark some that are off the beaten path.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
The other posters had it right that the shop owners there are more aggressive than we're used to (especially for me having come from living in Japan) but if you are equally assertive or simply ignore them it's not so bad.

While you're there check out the Saturday night fireworks display from the bay. Set up by the Tourism Bureau they have a laser and fireworks display synced up to music on all the notable skyscrapers in downtown.

Good Luck and Happy Travels

P.S. Shopping there is both higher quality than you're likely to find in mainland China and cheaper than any 1st world nation I've ever seen. couple years running and I still where some of the clothes I bought there. And if you visit the flea market you can get even better deals.
>> Anonymous
Hong Kong is generally cleaner and richer than mainland cities, but it's more... international, if you know what I mean. If you want a more pure Chinese experience, mainland cities would be better-suited (don't worry, the mainland isn't THAT bad, it's actually becoming very modern and I found it very enjoyable).
>> Anonymous
I'd hate being in Hong Kong. Can't see a single star at night, ever.
>> Anonymous
Hong Kong kicks the shit out of mainland China
People there are MUCH more civilized, polite, and not huge jackasses.

Hot as hell when I went though, and crowded too.
>> Anonymous
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Canadafag who went to HK in February

Pros
- Very cheap compared to North America
- Nearly perfect public transit. Everything was clean, cheap, and frequently serviced at all but the late hours (even then cabs are still a reasonable alternative, and all the cab drivers have at least a working knowledge of English)
- Excellent food, both in terms of quality and variety
- People are generally friendly
- Although HK looks crowded, you rarely feel crowded.
- Lots of nature in the countryside; the hiking is supposed to be great (I didn't do any since my friend who I travelled with isn't into that sort of thing)
- The Octopus card; it will become your new best friend
-Absolutely gorgeous skyline

Cons
- Air is a bit hazy generally (nowhere near as bad as the mainland though)
- Good beer can be hard to come by (Mostly just Guinness and shitty lagers are available, but good bars do exist in HK, especially in Lam Kwai Fong)

I'm sure you'll love Hong Kong. Just keep in mind lots of the good Chinese food is at the little hole in the wall places, so don't be afraid to go in and order a random dish from a menu with no English.
>> Anonymous
>>24819
Well, I've had some bad experiences with HK'ers, so I guess I'm a bit biased against their people.
When I was getting out of HK airport, me and my mum were struggling with our luggage. We asked several passing HK'ers for help, but were rudely ignored. In the end it was a tourist from the mainland that came to our aid.
Most of the HK'ers I know here in Australia are also some pretty arrogant and up-themselves people (always looking down on the rest of Asia and disowning their own race and country in order to suck up to the West). The mainlanders and Taiwanese I know tend to be much nicer, quieter and approachable people.

Anyway my experiences obviously aren't indicative of the entire population of HK, but just from my experiences I get the feeling that Hong Kong people are arseholes.
>> Anonymous
>>24918

have to agree with you on the Tiawanese, every tiawanese person I have met has been very friendly and seem less driven by wealth and status than the HK and mainland chinese I have met (ausfag just goin by people I have met in aus so might be different when you go over there)
>> Anonymous
Yes, people from Hong Kong are assholes, and Cantonese sounds like shit compared to SUPERIOR Mandarin.

Nice city though. And for some reason the traffic is much more sane than in mainland China despite being more crowded. Probably because every second car on the road is a Lexus, BMW, or Mercedes and they don't want to wreck them.
>> Anonymous
>>24971
Tax in Hong Kong is 100% on automobiles, alcohol, and tobacco. Obviously, they will try to take care of them better.

>>24918
Hmm... How odd, everyone I've met there is nice. I'm good friends with 2 Hong Kong people at university, they're always looking to help. Same with the people in HK. Of course, there's always some arrogant fucks, no matter where you go so it's lucky that I haven't found any yet.