I think its better for the OP to start his/her own business as opposed to looking for a job, which will be rather difficult. Since she speaks English only, her ideal market would be the expat community, specifically those from English-speaking countries. Of course, that depends on the OP's ability to get the start-up capital as well as finding something worthwile to sell, but it can be done. In the meantime, it would'nt hurt to start learning a little bit of Chinese. Don't have to be fluent, but at least get a basic grasp of daily communications. That may open doors for the OP.
Like bookblogger, I know several non-Chinese speaking expats who have jobs here which were found locally (not international transfers). The more important issue is that the OP doesn't need sponsorship so there are jobs out there.
Go for tutoring jobs. They won't pay you that much since you don't have a degree in related fields but at least you will have something to do. Good luck.
How about computer or design skills?
If I was in that situation I would definitely start a business. Free accommodation and I guess not many responsobilities (no kids or anything) and getting a job is going to pay so badly with your qualifications and experience, why not go for it?
You could buy some stuff from China, and sell it both in HK (at first on yahoo auction and then maybe eventually open a little boutique somewhere cheap) and if possible send some to UK to be sold there on eBay by a UK seller (friend or family)
For a taste of how cheap you can buy things have a look at the Taobao website (you either need someone who can read Chinese or you can struggle with Google's website translator.)
I've seen things for sale in HK which were obviously bought on Tao bao and the margins are ridiculous.. and in UK they'd sell for considerably more still. Novelty items (anything you might see in a cheap gift shop... silly things like cups with funny words on, alarm clocks that fly, 'bank notes' toilet paper... ), clothing, phone accessories etc are very high margin items.
Apparently the highest margin thing that is light is bras... women pay stupid prices for bras, and you can get some ok quality ones cheap from China.
Last edited by justjoe86; 27-06-2011 at 11:50 PM.
In China you can survive because you can fake your degree; in Hong Kong you can't, unless you do some networking to know some people who need to learn English (who their kids need to learn English), that would be possible.
The English tuition rate is quite high here, ranging from HKD150-300 / hour.