Hong Kong Guide

From Noisebridge
Jump to navigation Jump to search

This is a small, but growing Hong Kong Guide by Jonas S Karlsson BuddhaHacker, for the purpose of NoisebridgeChinaTrip7. Please feel free to add.

Overview

Hong Kong may be consider to be on Chinese Land, but it does not have any of the restrictions of China as it is it's own territory. The principle is "One country - two systems", in practice it's probably "1 Country 7 systems". For all practical purposes Hong Kong is "like a country", it's actually the territory in the world which is the most like a country, but isn't. There is even a Hong Kong passport.

Arrival

Most will arrive to Hong Kong at the airport. After immigration, where you fill out a note, you'll get a slip with a date, you need to keep this in the passport at all times, also you need to keep the passport on your person at all times when outside. It'll show how long you can stay in Hong Kong.

Octopus card

Yes, get one! It's available at the airport after the arrivals. It cost $150HKD, $50 is deposit, and you'll get $100 credit. Getting this card is NOT optional. If you take bus, you need exact change, or just give more money than the actual cost and loose your change. Also, you'll be staying in TST (Tsim Sha Tsui), where there are many tourist and buying tickets is a nuisance.

The octopus card makes for speedy transport, and is accepted on MTR (subway), busses, boats, minibusses. You also pay in 7-11, minimarts, MacDonalds (all 24h) and sometimes even for beer!

Top-up easily at 7-11.

Travel from Airport

Type in your hotel in google maps and get directions from Hong Kong international airport. You need octopus card as per above!

For most hotels you're in TST so A22 or E23 bus its about ~25HKD! It takes about 1-1.5hour.

Much faster: MTR Aiport Express, go to Kowloon station: 100HKD, take taxi to hotel in TST: ~24HKD.

Alt 2, avoid taxi: Go to last MTR Aiport Express Station, Central, then change to MTR to go from Central to TST. There is a bit of walk to get between these lines, but you'll arrive near the hotels.

Mobile Phone Card

You'll need internet in Hong Kong to get around (google maps), as well as keep in touch with the group and last minute changes on WeChat. See HTTC_Internet_Tips for info about cards to get.

Particular, a Hong Kong ONLY card with 5 days unlimited 4G data will cost about ~75HKD.

For China cards: No card should cost more than $150HKD and should give you at least 1GB and 30days, and be rechargeable through internet (~100HKD/1GB add).

Extract (China cards)

Q. What are the SIM cards that you recommend specifically? How much do they cost? If your phone supports TDD-LTE, China Mobile “CMHK 4G/3G Individual traveller Prepaid SIM Card" It costs $68HKD($8.69 US) for the SIM, and $168 HKD ($21.48 USD) for each 2GB data pack. Make sure it matches the picture below: it is likely that the cashier will get confused and try to sell you a HK-only local sim instead!

see this card

[image]

Before you leave HK and enter China, recharge it online using this website: https://1cm.hk.chinamobile.com/bill/prepaid-refill.html?lang=en and activate a 2GB China & Hong Kong Data Package for $168 HKD.

If your phone doesn’t support TDD-LTE, or you’re just not sure, you can get the China Unicom Cross Border King https://www.cuniq.com/hk_en/data-card/great-china/cross-border-king-hkno.html Sim Costs $138 HKD ($17.64 USD) Data packages are $118 HKD ($15.09 USD) / 1 GB.

Q. Where to look for these two cards? 7/11, Circle K 👌 and market stalls selling SIM cards. Make sure the photo matches and you are not being given a HK-only-SIM!

Mobiles

Phones

  • American may not work
  • European will typically work with unicom
  • iPhones will generally work (especially with China Mobile in China)
  • buy cheap phone in HK: Xiaomi hongmi note 4x 3GB/32GB - 1099HKD, HK phones should have all Google stuff working...
  • buy phone in China: Google Play apps will NOT work, contacts not sync, often cannot install maps correctly etc, only if you know it can be flashed before-hand
  • don't buy iPhone on streets, they may be stolen, or you'll be part of switch-scam and get a non-phone, it happened once in shanghai, ask us about it...

Buy Simcard in China

  • not convenient unless stay long time or go often
  • need passport, they'll take picture
  • go to unicom store: 56RMB/1 month 500MB, overage 60RMB/GB. Suggest pay 100RMB.

Internet

Works fine. See HTTC Internet Tips

Sightseeing

Various guides you can find on internet.

Big ones:

  • The Peak
  • Giant Buddha (near airport)
  • Garden of Stars (Bruce Lee statue)
  • TST Ferry to Central/Wan Chai
  • Beaches (Sai Kung minibus from Dundas)
  • Science Museum

See more from official site.

Here are the local fun ones:

  • Tin Hau Temple & Street night market (MTR: Yau Ma Tei)
  • Women Clothes market (MTR: Mong Kok, Prince Edwards)
  • Chung King Mansion (TST)

MTR Prince Edwards:

  • Women Clothes market
  • Gold fish market
  • Flower market
  • Bird Garden/market
  • Dim Sum: Tim Ho Wan (walk from PE, in Sham Shui Po)

Electronics

MTR: Sham Shui Po

  • Golden Computer Center - everything new
  • Apliu Street electronics market, spy cams, second hand mobile phones
  • Capital Building, Un Chau Street - second hand computers/laptops (cheap Thinkpads)

Other areas

  • Computer Center (MTR: Mong Kok) - new computers, mobiles, parallel import
  • Sin Tat Center (MTR: Mong Kok) - games, second hand iPhones, iPads
  • Wan Chai Computer Center (MTR: Wan Chai)

Nightlife

Hong Kong cluster bars at certain streets in certain neighbourhoods, here are the main ones:

  • LKF (Lan Kwai Fong, MTR: Central) - western style bars/clubs - a must go once for Fri/Sat
  • Wan Chai (MTR: Wan Chai) - "legendary for its exotic night life" (bar district/hostess bars)
  • Mong Kong - cafes/late night eating/some local brewery bars
  • TST - two bar districts (Hart Street, Ashley Road)
  • Sheung Wan (MTR) - 3 gay bars, near DimSumLabs, ask locals
  • Tung Choi street, behind Mong Kok Police station (MTR: Prince Edwards)

Bars, Taprooms, Microbreweries

  • Tap Room (TST, ashley road)
  • The Ale Project: Kowloon Tap room (MTR: Mong Kok)

Foods

Hong Kong is known for various foods, I like to go low-end. Service is fast and expedient, when the waitress arrive they'll expect you to order immediately. After 2 seconds if you're not yet ordering, they'll say "I'll come back later", and they will. Unless it's English food with foreign waitresses don't expect them to speak English.

I use the android APP: Hanping Chinese (free) + Hanping Chinese Camera (9 USD) Well worth the price as it scans text live and looks up characters

  • Cha Chaan Teng (茶餐廳) - local Chinese /west food cooked with western ingredients diner
  • Lai Cha (奶茶) - Hong Kong super strong milk tea! MUST TRY!
  • Yuanyang (鴛鴦) - Lai Cha mixed with coffee!
  • Dim Sum (點心) - "Chinese tapas", but traditionally for breakfast/lunch
  • Vegetarian, in Hong Kong the specialty is fake meat!
  • Snake soup (蛇羹) (MTR: Sham Shui Po or Central)

Internet

List of apps to install BEFORE china

  • WeChat: the WhatsApp + blog + Twitter + everything we'll use it all the time
  • ofo: bicycle share, 199CNY deposit
  • shadowsocks: bypass VPN limitations
  • Didi: Uber of China
  • hanping: free Chinese dictionary
  • hanping OCR: live scan ocr 2USD?
  • Google translate: download Chinese before go
  • alternative maps app: "MAPS.ME" have good data some businesses
  • ctrip: buy flight + train tickets + hotel, often have cheapest deal to China, and essential in China
  • baidu maps: all Chinese but it works...

Websites

- ditu.google.cn : unblocked Google maps in the browser!