Do you regret moving to Hong Kong?

[MovingIn07]

Original Post Deleted

Well I like HK but have a western spouse. Having said that, I think London or New York (or even Boston) wins on the "exciting" score - no culture here; few shows; nothing much to do except shop and hike and fly around Asia. Luckily I like those things! At the end of the day, only boring people are bored. My family finds heaps to do in a small UK village that only has one shop ..... its all in the attitude.

[gmi]

Original Post Deleted

I'm also married to a HK local...but don't really fall into the category of staunchly advocating how great Hong Kong is. But your probably correct overall.

[gmi]

Well I like HK but have a western spouse. Having said that, I think London or New York (or even Boston) wins on the "exciting" score - no culture here; few shows; nothing much to do except shop and hike and fly around Asia. Luckily I like those things! At the end of the day, only boring people are bored. My family finds heaps to do in a small UK village that only has one shop ..... its all in the attitude.

In defence of Hong Kong there is a wealth of culture although not all of it is easily accessible to us expats, even if we have a local husband or wife.

I'd don't hate life here and it certainly isn't boring. It's just not as exciting as say New York, Tokyo, London, Sydney, Shanghai the list goes one....

[Mat]

No doubt that HK is relatively poor in terms of concerts and all (although that goes also down to the fact that many of us simply can't go to the concerts of local singers, artists...).

That being said those things that we have in the "West" (ie concerts, sports events) come at a huge price (ie it is not uncommon to pay a few hundred euros for a simple ticket) so not everyone has access to it.


To answer the boring question from gmi.

I think what HK ppl consider boring is the fact that (London aside) if you do to Europe most shops are closed on sundays (to me this is a good thing but here apparently it is very important that they are open), most shops close around 8 PM (while here they stay on till midnight), most restos close at 10.30/11 or so (while here you can eat anytime of the day and night), most administrative things take ages while things here are pretty fast in place, in most places in europe you do not have the sea, the mountain, the city all together within less than 1 hour drive/bus, while here they do.

That's what they mean by "boring".

I personally do not think London or Paris are boring but that is the conclusion that many locals make (rght or wrong, not my place to judge)

[gmi]

No doubt that HK is relatively poor in terms of concerts and all (although that goes also down to the fact that many of us simply can't go to the concerts of local singers, artists...).

That being said those things that we have in the "West" (ie concerts, sports events) come at a huge price (ie it is not uncommon to pay a few hundred euros for a simple ticket) so not everyone has access to it.


To answer the boring question from gmi.

I think what HK ppl consider boring is the fact that (London aside) if you do to Europe most shops are closed on sundays (to me this is a good thing but here apparently it is very important that they are open), most shops close around 8 PM (while here they stay on till midnight), most restos close at 10.30/11 or so (while here you can eat anytime of the day and night), most administrative things take ages while things here are pretty fast in place, in most places in europe you do not have the sea, the mountain, the city all together within less than 1 hour drive/bus, while here they do.

That's what they mean by "boring".

I personally do not think London or Paris are boring but that is the conclusion that many locals make (rght or wrong, not my place to judge)

Probably right Mat. I guess I can see why locals might prefer 'home' as well. But plenty of expats seem to think the same thing too...

[jimbo]

The OP was already dead set against moving over and wanted to know the negatives of HK to back up her decision of not wanting to go.

She's already made her mind up by the sounds of things.

[ojo]

Re. culture: We have had two Sam Mendes directed Shakespeare plays performed here fairly recently: "The Tempest" and "Richard III". The latter stared Kevin Spacey (upside down!)

Since coming here in 2006 I have seen: The Cure, Gorillaz, The Ting Tings, Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, The Flaming Lips, Oasis, Suede, and er... Elton John.

I lived in London for eight years and (shamefully) never went to see anything there. Paradoxically you are more likely to jump at the chance to see something in Hong Kong because of the rarity.

[dear giant]

I just don't get this, and maybe its why I don't enjoy Hong Kong as much as others seem to. I'd love to understand this point of view...am I missing something staring me in the face?

Like the poster says tons of people think Hong Kong is exciting. I just don't get what's so exciting here. I see modern buildings all around me but life seems distictly old fashioned and slow paced compared with other major cities that I have lived in.

I'm guessing there is a long thread covering this already!

I think that the excitement might come from the fact that Cantonese is, in practice, really a shouted rather than simply a spoken language (everything sounds more exciting when shouted), that people love to jostle and bump into each other (as in some of the closed-to-traffic streets in MK on weekends, for example), and that being close to family counts as exciting -- b/c you always have people to do stuff with even if it's just sitting some place and basically shouting at each other.

It's a different way of seeing the world.

Shortly after I moved here, the topic of typical Western and typical HK eating etiquette/practices came up and some local folks, my wife and I, and a few Westerners were talking about each person ordering and eating what they liked individually versus everyone kibitzing over what should be ordered and how much of each dish and then constantly taking a little bit of something from shared plates/bowls, watching to see what other diners would take, and then taking a little more, etc.

Most of the Westerners thought that the communal eating way was fine if you were trying unusual (to them) foods for the first time, especially if cost was an issue but that they preferred making their own orders and having their own food. The locals preferred the communal way of eating and, when asked why, they mostly said that it was more "fun" to share food.

[Satay Sue]

Re. culture: We have had two Sam Mendes directed Shakespeare plays performed here fairly recently: "The Tempest" and "Richard III". The latter stared Kevin Spacey (upside down!)

Since coming here in 2006 I have seen: The Cure, Gorillaz, The Ting Tings, Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, The Flaming Lips, Oasis, Suede, and er... Elton John.

I lived in London for eight years and (shamefully) never went to see anything there. Paradoxically you are more likely to jump at the chance to see something in Hong Kong because of the rarity.

And probably the ease in getting there. The O2 in London wasn't there when we left the UK and this usually meant a trek from South East London to Wembley Stadium/Arena (horrible journey) or Hammersmith.

[HowardCoombs]

Original Post Deleted

Call me an outlier then as I dont fit your correlation.
I'm Canadian and met my British wife here 15 years ago. Raising 3 kids and we have no other family here.

I have traveled the world extensively believe Hong Kong to be one of the best cities in the world to work, play and bring up a family. YMMV