An update from me (good procrastination)...
We are set to go at the end of this month. To Europe, job transfer -- it took ages to get sorted. I still don't have a job lined up and yes, it's a pay cut and there will be higher taxes and costs of living. So, we've had our doubts. The crisis in Ukraine/Russia also does not bode well, and I think HK is in a safer place in terms of resource security -- although a bit ironically that was one issue that made me keen to get out as we're vulnerable, too (being an isolated "island" dependent on other countries and infrastructure for food).
But the whole community isolation camps, locking up and throwing away the key of people I found useful in the community, the whole it's-the-law-to-give-us-your-pet thing still makes me confident that it's right to leave. We need a breath of fresh air and more mobility -- we are just so bored here. But I do think there will be plenty of (naive) people looking for high salaries and to get away from their own issues (America, eastern Europeans), so I think HK will bounce back soon enough. Having been burnt out for three years now here, though, the high salaries are just not for us anymore when we've been robbed of life...
I haven't left the city for nearly 3 years. That was definitely never part of the deal, even though I'm all keen to reduce our carbon emissions from flying!!! Even if we had had the ability to travel in China, it would have made a big difference.
Kind of slowly saying good bye to geo, too, as I find it less and less relevant now to my daily life.
Anyway, hoping all goes smoothly in the next weeks -- packing, clearing up things here, getting things set up there, preparing my kitties. We'll be back soon for a visit, though, and are still "HK residents" for a few further months before the new contract kicks in.
I'll be back for a final good bye. 