Is Hang Hau an expat friendly place?

[gadra]

We are a newly married couple currently living in a serviced apartment in Hong Kong Island wants to move. We want to move to a bigger apartment, further away from Central so the rent would be cheaper. We're looking for "expat" friendly places where most people would be able to speak/ understand English.

We've been to Hang Hau and like the convenience of having an MTR station and a mall right under the apartments and it's only around 25-30 mins away from Central.

Any advice about moving to Hang Hau? We're also looking at Lohas Park. If anyone could give advice and/or suggestions about where we could move, that would be great! Thanks in advance!

[drumbrake]

Hang Hau - middle, maybe lower middle, class area on the edge of Tseung Kwan O. Mixture of public and private housing. I think in most parts of HK, most people speak and understand some English (after all there is 9 years of free education in the city). As to how much English, and how friendly for a non-Chinese speaking person you will find it, that is another matter. Some restaurants will not have English menus, and some shops will not have many or any English speaking staff, but you will still be able to get by. If the flat is nice and at the good price, I'd say there are a lot worse places to live in HK.

[chuckster007]

Hang Hau is great especially if you can rent the apartments above the MTR station. its surround by a nice bicycle path, lots of greenery, great park and public swimming pool right next to it. I loved taking my kid to the park and swimming pool before.

[MandM!]

I would say TKO station is much better!!

[wongsg2005]

You may read my post a while ago regarding a new residential zone, Tseung Kwan O South, which is closer to Hong Kong side than Hang Hau. It's getting more popular to young families and expats too. From Tiu Keng Leng mtr station, access to North Point and then Admiralty is about 30 min. Lohas Park is more distant and has no shopping mall nearby.

[mexmon]

Take into account that if you live in Lohas Park, only every 4th train goes there. So if you miss it, you might end up waiting up to 10-15 minutes for the next one.
TKO or Yau Tong are good areas.

[greentealatte]

Yea I recommend checking out TKO South (where all the new apartments are).
Anything north of TKO station is kinda old.
I moved into The Parkside recently and love the new area.
Pretty quiet, not a lot of people, more upscale-like apartments, lots of restaurants along Popwalk, and close to both the MTR station and ocean side.
However rent in TKO seems to be getting more and more expensive like HK Island.

[rickyross]

Ask not what Hang Hou can do for you - ask what you can do for Hang Hou.

Have you considered learning some Cantonese to make your stay friendlier for the locals? I'm sure they'd understand and respect the attempt to learn Cantonese.

[wongsg2005]

Yea I recommend checking out TKO South (where all the new apartments are).
Anything north of TKO station is kinda old.
I moved into The Parkside recently and love the new area.
Pretty quiet, not a lot of people, more upscale-like apartments, lots of restaurants along Popwalk, and close to both the MTR station and ocean side.
However rent in TKO seems to be getting more and more expensive like HK Island.

Yes, I agree with greentealatte. It is just a bit more costly than the older estates in Hang Hau. The new estates, like Parkside, CAPRI, Wings Ocean are near the waterfront, some with sea view or open green view, all with balconies, and generally more spacious, very suitable for young families, expats looking for quality lifestyle, pet lovers, many of whom moved there already