View Poll Results: Hong Kong vs New York

Voters
27. You may not vote on this poll
  • Hong Kong

    18 66.67%
  • New York

    9 33.33%

HOng Kong vs New York

Closed Thread
  1. #1

    HOng Kong vs New York

    I have been offered a job in HK, but also have the opportunity to go to New york to work in the next few months. Does anyone have a view on which city would be the best place for a 28 year old, single english girl, looking for a great life/work eperience and adventure and also just some good old fashioned fun.

    All view welcome!

    Thanks!


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Midlevels, HK
    Posts
    69
    Quote Originally Posted by claireabella:
    I have been offered a job in HK, but also have the opportunity to go to New york to work in the next few months. Does anyone have a view on which city would be the best place for a 28 year old, single english girl, looking for a great life/work eperience and adventure and also just some good old fashioned fun.

    All view welcome!

    Thanks!
    Very hard to say without knowing your circumstances, but i would pick HK over new york any day (but that's just whats best for me). It's a great experience.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Posts
    250

    If the jobs are similar, and you really don't care much about working in Hong Kong long term, then I would go to New York.

    As a SWF, you'll find it easier to immerse yourself into the city and meet people of different backgrounds. There's more to do culturally and socially and the air quality is so much better. It's colder in New York during the winters obviously but that shouldn't scare you too much. And if for some reason you have a hard time meeting people, it is easier to be single in New York and you are much closer to family in England. It's no more than a $400 airfare away to London, Bristol or Manchester in the offseason.

    Getting a USA work permit is not a piece of cake, and could be time consuming, so be sure that the opportunity is a real one before turning down the offer in Hong Kong.


  4. #4

    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Posts
    82

    Per my humble opinion, the culture of the UK is rather similar to that of the US and New York.

    Having experienced life in all of the above, I would again choose Hong Kong, as it offers the same excitement of a big city, yet is far more friendlier, liveable and it's culture offers radically different perspective, cultural values, philosophy than what Westerners are used to. At the same time, there is quite a bit of Western influence here and many expats, which only proves that it is an incredible place to be.


  5. #5

    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Central
    Posts
    51

    Do you have an affinity for the Chinese culture? Is your goal to work in Asia long term? Do you want to learn Cantonese or Mandarin? If so, Hong Kong.

    If not, and you just want fun and cultural stimulation...New York. If I was not born and raised there, that's where I would be.

    Hong Kong is stimulating as well. But New York is a lot more fun for nightlife and cultural events. You can find a niche much easier in New York. And every weekend, you choose from a much larger pool of options for live theater, music, independant films, musuems, etc.

    As an expat, you're lifestle (relative to the locals) will be much higher in Hong Kong than New York as far as the places you go for food and drink. It's easier to feel "poor" in New York. Just my thoughts...


  6. #6

    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Midlevels / USA (MD) / London
    Posts
    2,219

    I've lived in both now and find them similar but quite different. Hong Kong felt like more of an adventure, being farther away from all that I knew and with a much more limited pool of colleagues and friends, but it was also a lot easier to get around and do things when I wanted to go out. New York beats HK on cultural opportunities, such as the theater and museums and the like, and I have to say you will find the overall culture a bit easier to adjust to than HK. Both have substantial UK expat communities, but as another poster mentioned, the underlying community in the US is English speaking and in NY not all that different from London (they call those who live on the flights back and for NyLons). In HK, the underlying community doesn't speak your language, eat your food, or have the same background growing up. It can be a bit of a shock after a few months. You will meet a fair number more Aussies and New Zealanders in HK than NY (they are more spread out in NY).

    But with that said, I still revert to my basic advice on overseas travel for work: where is it more likely you will end up in the future? If this is realistically your only chance to live/work in HK, then you should consider it. I think, given the distances and closeness of NY/Lon, you'll probably have a chance to live/work in NY again, but now, in HK, might be your only real chance to experience it.

    I once met an 18-year old Marine fresh off the cornfields and just out of boot camp flying home to see his folks. He was from Missouri and wasn't sure where he would be posted. His choices were Arkansas (next to Missouri) or Italy. I had to sort of talk it out with him but basically my advice was "son, you have the rest of your life to live in Arkansas. This is probably your only chance to live expenses paid in Europe." He really had never thought of it that way, but in the end, he realized what I was saying and called his commander from the airport with a request to go to Italy.

    You will probably have a chance to go to both HK and NY in the future (I'm not sure) but you might want to think of it along the lines of this young Marine and see if that helps your decision.


  7. #7

    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    6,734

    I was born here in Hong Kong and I lived in New York for the better part of a decade. I'm 24 now. Personally, I'd choose New York over Hong Kong any day. I like being able to communicate with anyone, which is nowhere near as easy here as it is in the US.

    Hong Kong has it's own allure too, though...you can get some amazing deals here...I dunno, I find Hong Kong kind of boring, though. Every day in New York was a pleasure...

    One thing about Hong Kong though is it's a great jumping off point from which to see the rest of Asia for CHEAP. Perhaps you should check out both cities first and see how you feel A lot of English people at my work have previously lived in New York, but now live in Hong Kong.

    Oh yeah, you'd probably get more attention in HK being a SWF than you would in New York...just because you'd stick out more. You wouldn't be a rarity, exactly, but Hong Kong is over 90% Chinese...