If you knew back then what you know now....what would you have packed in your container for a family?

[MovingIn07]

Snacks. I love a UK snack called "twiglets" which sell for about 99p a large bag in the UK and cost HKD55 for the same bag here (ie 5x the price). However, I have found that someone out there has realised that there is a market for Twiglets in the Gold Coast and when they are past their sell-by date, they send them to MarketPlace in the Gold Coast, priced at HKD15 a bag, at which point I buy everyone I can see. (Done this three times so far, a few months apart!).

So - it's more about price than availability in general. Ideally you'd want to wean yourself off expensive overseas stuff and go local .... which I have for everything except Twiglets! We all have one vice

[carang]

can't tell you what to send without knowing from where you are coming....

[bryant.english]

@M07 unfortunately they also sell bbq shapes!

[Stoob]

The wife and kids, then use the savings on air tickets to upgrade to first!

Sent from my GT-I9100 using GeoClicks Mobile

[dipper]

The paradox is of course that if you can afford to ship things over then by definition you don't need to bring anything.

[nassaugirl]

I would find out how much my salary/housing allowance would buy in the way of housing and then seriously edit what I was going to bring as HK apartments are not large (unless your housing budget is big!).

If you are bigger than the average Asian build, I would bring a good selection of clothing to last you until you can find somewhere here that will sell something to fit you. In particular-bras if you are over a D cup, jeans/trousers if you are not a straight up and down sort of figure and shoes if you are over a 39/40 (less choice).

In terms of food, unless you would pine away without it, I probably wouldnt bother. You can get most things here or you will learn to adapt

[jgl]

Some good NY style pizza and a years supply of Fruity Pebbles cereal.

Let's not get into a pizza discussion again

@ Monster: Seriously though, you need to give a little more info if you want anything besides super generic advice and humorous comments. Where are you coming from, what is your family situation?

Advice for a single guy coming from Australia would be very different to advice for a family with young kids moving out from San Francisco.

[hello_there]

Some good NY style pizza and a years supply of Fruity Pebbles cereal.

I'll leave the pizza bit alone.

For Fruity Pebbles - they're much more available in HK now than they were several years ago. Olivers, City Super, A&M, Americome and Gateway all carry them Lucky Charms are also easier to find in HK than they were a few years ago.

Another note for the OP:

There are several stores in HK (A&M, Gateway, Americome) that import food/ toiletries/ cleaning supplies/ other household goods from the US. They carry branded goods as well as some of the Costco/ Walmart brands. The selection isn't fabulous but its not bad either. And, they will try to get particular products in for your if you ask and they think that they will sell. When you get here you will find that there are some things that you are fine with the local equavalent and others you really prefer to have from home. Expect to pay at least 2x and often more for goods imported from the US.

For goods from the UK, supermarkets like Olivers carry a good stock, as do some of the larger supermarkets in areas with a lot of expats (Repulse Bay and Stanley for example). There are a lot more goods from the UK than the US generally on the shelves of the grocery stores.

The department stores here will carry most of the same cosmetics brands back in the US, but some of the products are different (how different depends on the brand). For example, a lot of the Lancome and Clinique products are different (different formulas, different colors), but all of the Benefit products are the same.

For clothing, there is a bit of a hole in the mid-priced range. HK has all the same desiger stuff (Prada, etc.) and plenty of inexpensive options (H&M, Zara and numerous local brands) but there isn't much in the price range and quality of say Banana Republic. An Abercrombie is opening soon, a GAP (with full kids and babies ranges) opened recently (and the prices are about the same as the US), as did an American Eagle. I think a couple other similar brands are coming to HK soon. Someone else pointed out that undies can be an issue and I would have to agree. Stock up for both men and ladies before leaving home. Also socks. I always have a hard time finding nice white athletic socks in HK.

Oh, if you're the athletic type, sports equipment is less expensive and there is a much better selection outside of HK. If you need shoes or gear for a particular sport it can be a challenge to find what you are looking for in HK.

[WMDS]

suncream, its so expensive in HK to buy it.
DVD tv series cos TV in hk are so boring.

[virago]

Please don't ship bed bugs. We have enough here.