Hong Kong Local Customs

  Rawlinson House's Georgian architecture
by mikey_e
 
  • Rawlinson House's Georgian architecture
      Rawlinson House's Georgian architecture
    by mikey_e
  • HK skyscrapers by night
      HK skyscrapers by night
    by mikey_e
  • The Colonial accents of the Helena May Bazaar
      The Colonial accents of the Helena May...
    by mikey_e
  • Entrance to the festival
      Entrance to the festival
    by mikey_e
  • The make-shift temple
      The make-shift temple
    by mikey_e
 

Most Viewed Local Customs in Hong Kong

1.

Do/Do Not!   Hong Kong

Do/Do Not!, Hong Kong

 27 Reviews  Hong Kongers live in a modern fast moving society but many retains their Chinese traditons, beliefs and superstitutions. It is not unusual to see temples right in the middle of an urban sprawl. Feng... 

2.

Eating and Drinking   Hong Kong

Eating and Drinking, Hong Kong

 33 Reviews  In Hong Kong, I think the best food to bring home is traditional Chinese bakery products like those offered in WING WAH BAKERY or KEE WAH BAKERY. Both have stores in Kowloon (WING WAH on Nathan Road... 

3.

Dress Code   Hong Kong

Dress Code, Hong Kong

 5 Reviews  Hong Kong is fairly fashion conscious especially for business. Hong Kong people are also very modest in their dress and you will attract some unwanted stares if you wear anything too... 

4.

Language   Hong Kong

Language, Hong Kong

 21 Reviews  Cantonese:The franca lingua in HK. Though it's said that everyone here can speak English and Mandarin , the language of familiarity is still Cantonese. It's different in Singapore where all of us are... 

5.

Festivals   Hong Kong

Festivals, Hong Kong

 34 Reviews   Ninth Moon, Day 9 (in September/October) The Chung Yeung Festival is a day to respect and remember ancestors. Also known as Autumn Remembrance, this festival is similar to Ching Ming in the... 

6.

Markets   Hong Kong

Markets, Hong Kong

 20 Reviews  In the night market, when you’re the first customer & you touch the item or ask for the price, be aware that they’ll never let you go until you buy the product. They believe it’s bad luck to touch an... 

7.

Climate   Hong Kong

Climate, Hong Kong

 7 Reviews  I hate dealing with umbrellas- mainly because I never know what to do with them once I get inside somewhere. Well, in Hong Kong it's a pleasure. When you get inside a building, there's a little stand... 

8.

Temples   Hong Kong

Temples, Hong Kong

 13 Reviews  The Chinese use of burning incense in the temples, filling them with smoke that pushes Fernanda quickly out, is done in Man Mo temple in a special way, with dozens of spirals hanging over your head,... 

9.

Chinese zodiac/Feng Shui and more   Hong Kong

Chinese zodiac/Feng Shui and more, Hong Kong

 11 Reviews  Sometimes even a traveller is exhausted or the weather is bad and so staying in hotel and looking regional TV- and so sometime we found suddenly the TV Series of the Chinese "White Snake Legend". Very... 

10.

Multicultural City   Hong Kong

Multicultural City, Hong Kong

 13 Reviews  As HK is a fairly westernised city, there aren't many unfamiliar Asian gestures that you need to avoid (i.e. in Greece your palms shouldn't face others with your fingers spread out like showing a... 

11.

Cantonese Opera   Hong Kong

Cantonese Opera, Hong Kong

 6 Reviews  duk-duk-chaang is the nickname of Chinese operas, it similates the sound of the musical instruments used in the operas. Chinese operas - unlike operas in the rest of the world, are the entertainment... 

12.

Business Cards   Hong Kong

Business Cards, Hong Kong

 5 Reviews  In Singapore as in Hong Kong, don't ever toss your business card nonchalently to your would-be client/customer/acquaintance. Hand over business cards with both hands, as though you are handing over... 

Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Food Offerings

by traveldave

Food offerings are one of the most prominent and important rituals in Buddhism. Making the offerings to the gods and hungry ghosts is a meritorious act that reminds practitioners not to be greedy or selfish, and connects them with the spiritual world. The types of food offered vary, but most consist of items such as fruit, rice, or even flowers.Hungry ghosts represent greed, thirst, and neediness which bind people to their sorrows and disappointments. By giving away something they crave, practitioners release themselves from their own sorrows and disappointments.The rituals involved in making offerings of food vary. They can be as simple as silently leaving food on the altar accompanied by a bow, or involve chanting and full prostrations. At most Buddhist temples, the altars are piled with fruit and other food items, such as pictured here. The food is put to good use, as the temple's...

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Incense Cones

by traveldave

These large spirals hanging from the ceiling of the Man Mo Temple are incense cones. Buddhist and Taoist belief holds that the smoke purifies the surroundings, attracts the attention of the gods, and carries prayers to heaven. It is also believed that the smoke is food for the spirits of ancestors who had previously died. After an incense cone is ignited at the end, it burns for weeks, carrying the worshipper's prayers and wishes up to the gods in heaven and ensuring good fortune and prosperity.Temples benefit financially from the sale of incense cones, each of which has a red tag with the name of the worshipper who made a donation to the temple.Those who cannot afford a large incense cone can light individual incense sticks, which they wave over their heads during prayer to attract the attention of the gods. Once the prayers are completed, the incense sticks are stuck into an urn placed...

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The Man Mo Temple

by traveldave

The Man Mo Temple, located on Hollywood Road in Sheung Wan, Central, was built in 1847. It the largest and most important of several temples in Hong Kong dedicated to the gods of literature and martial arts. Man Cheong is the god of literature, and Mo, more appropriately called Kwan Yu, is the god of martial arts. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, scholars and students studying for the rigorous civil examinations prayed to these gods for success in their studies.The Man Mo Temple is part of a complex with three components, including the Man Mo Temple itself (for the worship of Man Cheong and Kwan Yu), the Lit Shing Temple (for the worship of all heavenly gods), and Kung So, an assembly hall where community affairs and disputes were resolved. (In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many Chinese preferred to have disputes resolved in accordance with traditional Chinese and Confucian...

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GOLDEN BAUHINIA SQUARE

by ancient_traveler

A gift from the Chinese government marking the 1 July 1997 return of Hong Kong to the China.Members of the Hong Kong Police Force, dressed in immaculate uniforms 11th and 21st of each month at 7:45am with the Police silver Band performing the national anthem and background music, conduct an impressive flag-raising ceremony at the square.1 Expo Drive, Wan Chai, Hong Kong IslandMTR Wan Chai stn exit A5 then follow the signs to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

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weather in HK December

by soundchaseruk

Thanks John that is very encouraging. The only drawback is that it will be at the Xmas period and the flights expensive. My friend has said I can stay for free and eat for free so I guess it will still be quite a cheap week

How groomed dogs can be

by picek

We were walking on Hong Kong Island from Central to Victoria park one day in February - it was actually very cloudy and didn't see Kowloon from here. We went over Wanchai promenade which is great place to see dogs and people interact with eachother - because that is one of the few public areas where dogs are allowed to get some fun. Did you notice that dogs aren't that plentiful around HK? These whose we saw here were really taken good care of and well groomed - owners looked proud of them; but it also seems that there's latent competition on whose dog looks the best :) Wanchai promenade is actually nice place to sit down in weather like that - because when you cannot see views you can watch animals playing and people socializing. I think it's polite if you ask the carer before (if) you want to caress the dog; in the end you may enter some really interesting conversations.

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OTC medicines and custom rules..

by Waddington

You can go through below the Hongkong customs terms and conditions. I hope this will be more helpful to you..Adult mouth care; Allergy care; Analgesics; Calming and sleeping products; Child-specific OTC healthcare; Cough; cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies; Digestive remedies; Ear care; Emergency contraception; Eye care; Medicated skin care; NRT Smoking cessation aids; OTC obesity; OTC statins; OTC triptans; Vitamins and dietary supplements; Wound treatments

National Day Holidays.

by John6868

In Hong Kong we only get 1 day off which is the 1st October. On the mainland they get between 7 and 10 days but there has been talk recently of stopping this holiday as it is very disruptive. Many mainland tourists will visit HK during that period. It is also made busy by the fact that it is Fair season. You have a big Electronics fair and the Canton fair around late September to mid October which will make finding accomodation more difficult. On the plus side the weather is great then with little chance of rain and warm sunny weather.If you can get a deal which includes accomadation then come. If you want to find a hotel yourself then expect to pay between 60 and 80% more than the months either side.

MAJOR HISTORICAL STREETS

by ancient_traveler

QUEEN’S ROAD was named- like the harbour and Peak- in honour of the British Empire’s Queen Victoria. It runs along the original coastline of Hong Kong Island, following ancient rural tracks, stretching West and East from Central.DES VOEUX ROAD, reclamation created a new waterfront during the Governorship of Sir William Des Voeux. His Road obliged the Post Office to build a new colonnaded tower. Trams still trundle down the road, as they first did in 1904.WELLINGTON STREET. Western settlers built their first Hong Kong Club in 1846 near the coastline, beside Wellington Street, where the first Roman Catholic Cathedral stood. The bustling back lane still climbs uphill diagonally with elevated sidewalks.NATHAN ROADA century ago, Tsim Sha Tsui had a beach and Nathan Road was a tree-lined highway heading north. The road’s famed “golden Mile” is now many kms long.

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Terms and words used in HK

by budapest8

Ah-Ba - father (affectionate term) amah - house maid ban mui - Filipina (derogatory term) Cantonesecatty - Chinese unit of weight; approx. 1.33 lb/0.7 kg CMB - China Motor Bus; HK bus company known for reckless drivers choi sum - delicious Chinese vegetable cognac - as advertised, something to be consumed only in the presence of men congee - rice porridge conservative - in HK context, someone whose politics are somewhere to the right of Attila the Hun Consumer Council - HK government body that investigates retail fraud daai paai dong - low-priced street-side restaurant dim sum - tasty dumplings served literally a la carte, on carts wheeled table-to-table in Chinese restaurants. Disco Bay - Discovery Bay Discovery Bay - bland, antiseptic housing development on Lantau Island dollar 1 - Hong Kong dollar (HK$1.00) = US$0.13 rexpat/expatriate - normally refers to Caucasian residents of Hong...

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Top 3 Hotels in Hong Kong

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The Place

Reviews and photos of Hong Kong attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Hong Kong sightseeing.

Experience Hong Kong
 

Questions and Answers

Sinosphere profile photo

Q:  Hello, WE are going to spend 5 days in HK and first I was taken with this idea, but now I'm quite interrotagive. Cause we're... 

mim95 profile photo

A: Historical landmarks - the first that came to my mind is the former supreme court house in the colonial era, right in the middle of Central. In Wanchai, there is the... 

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