Hong Kong General Travel Information

General travel tips and information for travel in and around Hong Kong

This page gives you all the general information on Hong Kong such as the climate, banking hours, a little background on languages, water, identification, tipping, post offices, newspapers etc.  

Climate: Hong Kong is fortunate as it enjoys four seasons, it also is unfortunate in that it receives Typhoons from time to time. Winter can be chilly and runs from mid December until February, you will need a jacket, temperatures can go as low as 6 degrees, although around 10 would be more average. Spring starts to get a little warmer with temperatures generally ranging from 18-27 degrees and it runs from March to mid May, in the earlier months a light jumper or jacket would be advisable, especially for the evening. Summer heats up and humidity soars, from late May to mid September you will get by with light clothes. It is advisable though to bring a light pullover as restaurants and shops tend to blast their air conditioning units at full blast. It is very easy to catch a cold when moving from very hot and humid to cold air conditioning.  Autumn from September to December is a lovely time of year, as the humidity drops and the temperatures begin to cool off. You may require a light pullover or jacket for some evenings. The Typhoon season can be chaotic, and runs from May to November. The meteorological dept. keeps a very keen eye on all Typhoon developments and there warnings are taken very seriously. As a Typhoon comes closer, they issue warnings as to its' strength, with 1 being the lowest and 8 being very strong. Hotels restaurants and shops display message boards to inform you of the severity of the Typhoon. Once the signal reaches 8 then most if not all shops and businesses close down, and some flights may even be cancelled. If you would like to see the power of a force 8 typhoon, take a look at our Pictures of Hong Kong and around the world, and you will see a building being blown by a typhoon. It is the bottom left picture.  We do not recommend you go outdoors when it a force 8 has been hoisted. It can be dangerous with things fling around and other things falling from balconies and buildings. Take care.

Language: The official languages in Hong Kong are Chinese and English, although the latter may come as a surprise to those that know Hong Kong well. While many people do speak English there are also a lot that do not, and many of the menus in the more local restaurants can be in Chinese with no English translations. If you are moving around by taxi we do advise that you ask your hotel to write down the address in Chinese to help both you and the driver.

Water: Water is mostly safe to drink in Hong Kong, especially in hotels. Bottled water can be bought from any shop as well.

Tipping: Most hotels and restaurants add on a 10% surcharge for service, however if you would still like to tip HK10 or HK$ 20 should always suffice. With taxis you normally round up to the closest dollar, though most of the time they will do this automatically.

ID: While in Hong Kong it is law to carry your identification around with you at all times, we do not recommend this. It is much safer to leave your passport in the hotel safe and just carry a photocopy with you in case you do need it. 

Newspapers: There are two major English language newspapers in Hong Kong. The South China Morning Post and the Hong Kong Standard, we recommend the South China Morning Post, but that is a purely personal recommendation. If you are looking for a job then this is an excellent source. The Thursday issue carries sales and executive postings and the Saturday issue will blow your mind with the amount of job advertisements. If you are staying in a hotel, note that some hotels remove some of the classified sections on a Saturday, so just check with your local shop that they are the same thickness.

Banking Hours: Major banks are open from 9am to 4:30pm Mondays to Fridays and from 9:00am to 1pm on Saturdays. Offices follow normal International times and run generally from 9am to 5:30pm some with a half day on Saturday from 9am to 1pm.

Post Office: need to send a letter home or send off all those postcards you have been writing ? The major post offices can be found next to the Star Ferry terminal on the Island and at 10 Middle Road in Kowloon. They are open 8am to 6 pm, Mondays through Saturdays, and 8am to 2pm on Sundays. Or you could simply ask your concierge to send them for you.