Where to live in HK with 11mth baby?

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  1. #11

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    Agreed as well. And my opinion comes from someone who does regularly commute to SZ, also has kids, etc.

    I personally wouldn't live in Gold Coast or anywhere near, it's far to inconvenient for me for both the HK office and even more inconvenient for SZ office. I need to cross at Lowu not some forlorn outpost out to the west that can take over 30 mins to get to Lowu from. My office is far out to the east of SZ which can take 1 - 2 hours to travel, so why add more time both sides of border! That would be crazy!

    I am not sure why there is a problem suggesting places such as places such as Tai Wai, etc. I am at the foot of mountains, the streets are tree lined and the air is far, far superior to what's out the west of HK. Schools, bars, shops, expats and probably one of the best transport hubs in HK.

    Calling the Gold Coast the Stanley of the New Territories, hmmmm. Maybe Pokfulam or North Point would be more apt!


  2. #12

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    Hmm, pay attention people I typed verbatum, this:

    We live "next door" to the Gold Coast complex, and absolutely love "our particular residential spot", it's the Stanley of the New Territories in my opinion ."

    The area "next to" is very much like Stanley, which it is, or do I have to post photo's of the villa lined streets that we live, to shut some of you up. We neighbour the GC complex, we dont live in it, as I dont like it much either, compared to where we live which is a one in a million HK property.

    Also, none of us know the location of exactly where this ladies husband works in Shenzhen, it could be Shekou, it could be Dong Ming, Dong Guan city blah blah blah, I lived there and know the area pretty well..

    I had a pretty good gut instinct that you wouldnt be a regular at Chris's bar,lammarite.

    Its funny how a fair percentage of Mainland Chinese people own property in our particular enclave ( near Pearl Island ), because its so hard to commute accross the Shenzhen border I suppose....

    Last edited by Skyhook; 18-09-2007 at 12:16 PM.

  3. #13

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    Been to Gold Coast many times over past few years and it has never appealed to me. You can post pictures if you like, you may love it and I can understand why but it's but one small part of HK. I love where we live also for my own reasons and wouldn't move.

    SZ as I mentioned is a big city and the point I originally made was that her husband could work anywhere. We don't know that yet and that's if, and a big if, they want to cross the border everyday. I sure as hell couldn't!

    You mentioned that the mainland chinese that own places there do so as second homes which blows a little of your last paragraph away. What would be more of a litmus test is how many HK business owners with businesses in SZ live there? Where I am that number is huge......


  4. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Skyhook:
    I had a pretty good gut instinct that you wouldnt be a regular at Chris's bar,lammarite.
    Don't get me wrong, I haven't been to any of the bars in Sai Kung yet and Steamers looks like one of the better ones.

  5. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Skyhook:
    G'day everybody...

    I think beautifulday has had a gutful of Shenzhen life. We lived in Nanshan district, close to C Mall. Although that was an improvement over the rest of that shithole, we couldnt wait to get out of the place. Hated every second that we lived there, can stick that "cultural" experience where the sun dont shine.


    Now, back to finding a positive sollution ..

    Hong Kongs "Gold Coast" http://www.goldcoast.com.hk is the most location logical, especially now that the Lok Ma Chau Shenzhen route is active, you also have a very close mini bus commute to Shenzhen Bay from this part of HK.

    Why on earth someone would nominate Kowloon Tong, obviously A/ doesnt have children, and B/ hasnt a clue, when the OP made it clear that they lived in paddington Queensland "Australia " previously. She'd rather drill a hole in her head than live in another built up crowded concrete jungle, after her SZ experience... Also, why on earth does it matter if she is close to any international schools, when she has an 11 month old child ? Hello ! I think we need cuban strength double shot espresso's this morning lol

    Gold Coast has excellent pre school related facilities, where you'll find a mothers group, it also has a western supermarket and roughly about a 40% expat population, 20% mainland Chinese second home population ( not always here only for holidays ), and the balance is local HK people, which explains why its so quiet here ... I wasnt being sarcastic then, its true....

    Gold Coast, Tuen Mun, Siu Lam, So Kwun Wat, are all handy to speedy access accross the border, and rents are going to be likely, 2 to 3 times what you would have paid for the same sized flat in Nanshan district SZ...

    $7000HKD per month is going to be the min for a good sized 2 bedroom, and anywhere from that and $15,000 will get you something spacious, 3 bedrooms and a maids nook, with excellent club facilities, pools, a beach, marina, good restaurants, a pharmacy, western supermarket and enough outdoor el fresco cafe/eateries, to put a smile back on your face.

    As to pollution, its not really any better here, than Shenzhen of late, it used to be better 3 years ago, but seems about as bad now.

    Factoring all of your requirments, Gold Coast, not just their complex as GC is the name of a particular complex, but locals know the area if you mention it.

    We live next door to the Gold Coast complex, and absolutely love our particular residential spot, it's the Stanley of the New Territories in my opinion .
    thanks so much for your details answer, sunds like you understand where im coming from. my husband has a company in shenzen so we pretty much have to move so we can be closer. we're going to be there in a week so we can look around so i will check out the gold coast. im so nervous about the move as its sooo different. we're pretty young minds too so i dont want to be isolated

  6. #16

    My head is doing spins..My husband works in Guangdong in the Nansham District.
    Im so confused about where to live. here are some details on me..Im 30 love fitness, good dinning wine, social, love movies. i love being central to places to shop so i can walk there. i love convenience, modern places. somewhere where i feel comfortable raising a young baby and not getting so lonely in a shit area of hong kong.

    thanks for the advise so far but i need some more please .....


  7. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by beautifulday:
    My head is doing spins..My husband works in Guangdong in the Nansham District.
    Im so confused about where to live. here are some details on me..Im 30 love fitness, good dinning wine, social, love movies. i love being central to places to shop so i can walk there. i love convenience, modern places. somewhere where i feel comfortable raising a young baby and not getting so lonely in a shit area of hong kong.

    thanks for the advise so far but i need some more please .....
    Have you been to SZ, Guangdong, or HK before, or lived in any of those places?
    Also, do you know what kind of rental budget you're going to have?
    Last edited by ontheroad; 18-09-2007 at 12:55 PM.

  8. #18

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    I know exactly where you are coming from sweet.

    I have some photo's of the gold coast and where we live in my geoexpat photo gallery. a few streets away from the "Gold Coast Mall, where yoiu you have very peaceful, treelined and beach side residential pockets. We actually purchased our place, as we were buying anyway, and only looked at properties that were for sale, as opposed to what was available for rent from the useless real estate agency opposite the complex. Most newbies do make that mistake, which is such a waste, and wish that extate agent would close down, as they really are useless..

    If you want some more info message me via private message and I will name some apartment complexes and villa's that neighbour the Gold Coast Mall. There's also a large Australian population of expats here, we are the most dominant group, made up of mainly airline professionals, lots of NET's and very few banker types, " because its 30 minutes to far". Gota love it

    There's some nice spots, and providing the commute is handy to your hubbies Shenzhen office, you should like it here.

    The GC mall is a bit of a hive of expat activity during the evenings at a couple of the out door bars/cafe's etc. The Promenade is my favourite at the MED Star for brunch overlooking the marina. Sailing and water sports are very popular things to do on the weekends too.

    Its pretty low key here, relaxed and very identifiably western, in the same kinds of ways that Saikung and Discovery Bay are in that regard...

    Shatin is nothing like here, our Bo Bo lives there, and I used to shop in Shatin and Mah On shan when we lived in Sai Kung. Must be fun with all those crowds, sticks finger in mouth and makes vomit noises lol ha ha ..

    For some of you, where you live in HK is probably a massive improvement. I'd hate to see where some of you lived in your home lands, if you think where you nominated in HK is better than Paddington in Queensland lol. Do you think that there is a coincidence that The GOLD COAST of HK and the GOLD COAST of Queensland have anything in common.... Check out the history of the entire development, and those that were "built before it" next door...

    Last edited by Skyhook; 18-09-2007 at 01:04 PM.

  9. #19

    i have been to shenzen and i totally hate it! i could never live there. ive been to hong kong, seen soho and central. the places i saw dont look so baby friendly because of the pollution. i didnt see enough to pick the right place. its a very different city. though i dont want to be too far from things and be isolated either


  10. #20

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    o.k, just got your message beautifulday, and for the kind of budget that you are planing on spending, you could afford most top floor duplex apartments, water side villa's and and most of the water front apartment complexs... Aqua Blue, Hillside Villa's The Aegean ( not to be confused with the Aegean Coast of similar name ) and Beaulieu Villa's, Monte Carlo Villa's, Surf Side Villa's, Blessing Villa's, Spring Seaview Villa's, Bayview Terrace, Villa Saphire... And theres probably a few that I have missed, but that is majority of what orbits the Gold coast mall.

    Its a typical suburban layout that has been seperated from shops etc, which has kept the streets quiet, neat and traffic free. Beaulieu Villa's would be my first choice, as its right next to the beach, close to the GC mall, and its mostly all married professional couples with young families who live their. I think rent there is between 30K and 60K per month depending if the 3 storey town house fronts right onto the sea or not.

    Last edited by Skyhook; 18-09-2007 at 02:25 PM.