Hong Kong is a special administrative region (SAR) of China that has its own currency, which is called the Hong Kong Dollar.
Below, I’ll explain what Hong Kong’s currency is called, provide an overview and brief history, its names in both English and Chinese/Cantonese, and how it’s identified in local and international transactions (denominations, symbols, abbreviations).
Hong Kong and Taipei are two popular cities that emerge as top contenders for expats considering moving to Asia thanks to a mix of thriving professional opportunities, personal and social growth, and a plethora of other practical considerations (I’m looking at you low tax rates!).
Having lived in Taipei, Taiwan for over 3 years and Hong Kong for nearly 7 years (hint: I’m currently living in HK) both cities have been incredibly formative both professionally and personally for me, with each providing distinct and unique (and memorable) experiences, vibrant cultures, and unparalleled advantages that have ultimately made my life richer and more fulfilling.
However, they differ significantly in key areas such as cost of living, professional industries, lifestyle, and overall environment. And, in my humble opinion, they cater to two very different types of expats.
Below, I’ll break down the key factors you should consider when asking yourself if Hong Kong or Taipei is the best fit for you.
So, whether you’re drawn to Hong Kong’s solidified and storied reputation as a global financial hub or Taipei’s eclectic blend of modernity, tradition, and island charm, this article will help you evaluate critical aspects that may be most important to you.
So, without further ado – Hong Kong vs. Taipei for expats – which city is best for you, your career, and your family? Let’s find out.
Factors
Hong Kong
Taipei
Cost of Living
One of the most expensive cities in the world.
Affordable across the board, specifically housing and necessities.
Professional Opportunities
A leading global financial hub that’s home to high-demand sectors like banking, law, and insurance, with no cap on professional growth.
A foreign job market underpinned by English teaching and other jobs in education, with a growing tech and entrepreneur scene.
Quality of Life
A high-pressure and demanding city that comes with long hours but surrounding nature and no shortage of activities to mitigate.
A more balanced and relaxed existence where you can clock-in and clock-out to enjoy surrounding nature and cultural events.
Education
World-class competitive international curricula that can cost a pretty penny.
An ideal destination for families seeking Mandarin immersion along with high global standards.
Expat Communities
The most eclectic expat community in Asia (and a top global city).
A small but inclusive expat community that is primarily centered around Anglophones and native English speakers.
I’m always DTF with the dawgz. Get your mind out of the gutter, ya filthy animal. I obviously mean ‘Din Tai Fung’.
You know, the beloved Taiwanese restaurant chain that has swept the world and put a smile on millions of faces thanks to its piping hot, delicate, juicy, steamed pork dumplings (aka ‘xiaolongbao’ – 小笼包).
I’m in the midst of trying to start a movement. No, not one of those move down to South America in furtherance of establishing a religious commune/utopia and have 90% of the movement drink cyanide type of movement.
Mine is a xiaolongbao empowerment (and education) movement. One where nobody ever falls victim again to their own gluttony by scorching their taste buds and damning themselves to subsequent weeks of everything tasting like rubber.
Some might say that’s more ambitious and delusional than starting a cult in Guyana.
I digress.
The point is, Din Tai Fung is the absolute cat’s pajamas of Shanghai-style dumplings, noodles, and soups. So, consider this a call to action to assemble your crew, prep your taste buds, and make your way over to your nearest Din Tai Fung to slurp back some of the most revered soup dumplings in the game.
Something washed over me when I was out of Hong Kong for three months this summer. And that was a realization that I eat far more Asian food than I thought. Since I returned home, I’ve been eating Cantonese and Chinese cuisine like it’s going out of style.
One style of Cantonese cuisine, in particular, has dominated this gastronomic reunification and reawakening – ‘siu mei’, aka ‘Cantonese BBQ’.
This has led to me revisiting classic roast goose and BBQ pork (char siu) haunts that have served me well over the years and exploring revered institutions that I’m ashamed to have never feasted on during my nearly seven-year Hong Kong tenure.
One Hong Kong-style roast meat restaurant had oddly eluded me over the years – my ‘siu mei white whale’ some might say – Wan Chai’s very own ‘Chukfo Taipan’.
So, in the lead-up to my self-imposed 1.5-month moratorium out of Hong Kong, I called up my Farjar (father) for one of our Friday lunch “constitutionals” and told him we were eating all of the meats.
The Koreans are taking over Hong Kong and you know what? I ain’t even mad.
Everywhere you turn, it’s a Korean BBQ spot this, a pocha haunt that, a gaggle of suave-looking men rocking a two-block haircut with bangs and clean, minimalist semiotic getup that makes you realize just how much of a slob you are in comparison.
And now, a traditional Korean noodle and rice soup shop.
Even as I sit perched at the Nood Kinwick countertop overlooking the escalators, deep in reflective thought on what exactly the previous weekend’s 5 AM credit card charges at Bar 42 were for (hint: terrible things), I see a group of 40+ Korean tourists being shuffled through SoHo by a stern yet informative guide.
Recently, a top dawg and I, both donning our finest suits and craving sustenance before a legendary bacchanalian Zuma night brunch, stopped by the 2024-inaugurated Seoul Noodles on Stanley Street (Central) to confirm whether Korean gastronomic excellence only extended to the meat and booze realm in Hong Kong or if noodles were done justice as well.
Well, I’m here to confirm that the Koreanization of Hong Kong is fully underway and it’s goddamn delicious. So, where you gonna be when the sun falls, brother (or sister)? Hopefully slurping down a hearty bowl of soul-warming (Seoul-warming? Zing) Korean noodles with your ride-or-dies. You can bet I’ll be doing the same.
Here is why ‘Seoul Noodles’ in Hong Kong absolutely needs to be on your eating radar.
Hey. It’s me. Big Body. Your friendly neighborhood blogger who just so happens to live in one of the most prohibitively expensive cities in the world – Hong Kong.
I get it. This is a tough city to be impecunious in.
Rent is exorbitantly priced, cocktails cost an arm and a leg, and the overall value of what you’re able to purchase seems to be dropping off quicker than your freshman-year GPA after you discovered Popov vodka, Swisher Sweets, and long-cut Grizzly Mint pouches.
Note:I’m American so you’ll just have to picture whatever the Hong Kong university experience equivalent of that is. Also, Tai Lopez is a huge bozo so don’t think that me including him in the feature image is an endorsement of this grifter.
Either way, you need to make some extra skrilla and you need to make it now. You know, dough, doll-hairs, cheddar, clams, shekels, Versace lettuce, Hong Kong pesos. As the Wu-Tang Clan so famously rapped, ‘Cash rules everything around me, C.R.E.A.M. get the money, dolla dolla bill y’all.’
Here are 9 Hong Kong side hustles you can do to earn some extra skrilla so that you have some breathing room when the financial stress of this city inevitably feels like it is getting to be ‘too much’.
Pale Ale Travel Note:My goal is to provide you with practical side hustles that you can theoretically do with minimal setup. I’ve read other Hong Kong side hustle and passive income articles that were, frankly, offering up dangerous advice – like investing in cryptocurrency (note: I’m a huge Bitcoin/crypto proponent but there’s still an inherent gamble/risk in doing so). Further, many of the side hustles suggested require you to already have a significant amount of money to get started. This is from the ground up.
As ‘Asia’s World City’, one where roughly 10% of its population is classified as ‘non-Chinese’, you’d be hard-pressed to ever encounter a Spaniard in your daily routine. If one of my OG friends in Hong Kong weren’t a Mallorca native, I wouldn’t even believe they exist, mentally classifying them in the same category as the Chupacabra and Abominable Snowman.
This means that there is a glaring lack of Spanish restaurants in the city, the few and proud that exist primarily being concentrated in the Sheung Wan/Central biodome of personally and professionally underachieving expats – myself included.
I’m not entirely sure how it took me so long to write a post about this Spanish restaurant and gem out on the most Bohemian of all Outlying Islands in Hong Kong.
Mea culpa. Well, it’s here now.
In the not-too-distant past, several top dawgz and I had a day out on Hong Kong’s third largest yet most-spirited island – one filled with a brisk walk from the Yung Shue Wan Ferry Pier and swim down by that one power station which now makes me glow in the dark at night, capped off with an unsuspectingly authentic and bangin’ paella that would have a Spanish abuela howling in delight.
Here’s your new go-to spot in Hong Kong to snag you a bite of this vibrant, flavor-packed Spanish staple and why it emphatically puts the ‘yay’ in ‘paella’.
“Is Hong Kong Expensive?” is a common question I receive from readers, specifically those contemplating and/or planning a trip to ‘Asia’s World City’. Without sounding too much like a clickbait YouTube thumbnail (and failing), the answer might actually shock you, as Hong Kong may be more affordable than you initially might think.
However, that doesn’t mean you’re completely out of the weeds as several key expenses can ‘break the bank’ (so to speak).
Below, I’ll walk you through the cost of travel in Hong Kong, using anecdotes and personal experiences from my nearly seven years living here. You’ll walk away with a sound understanding of prices in terms of specific items but also experiences, things, and other categories of travel essentials.
You’ll also get a rough feel of exactly how much your trip to Hong Kong may cost. So, without further ado, how expensive is Hong Kong?
Pale Ale Travel Note: As people from all over the world are reading this post, I’ve decided to use Hong Kong Dollars (HKD/HK$) as the main currency for all costs – just to keep things simple.
If you’re traveling to Hong Kong, heading out on your next adventure, or are in the city and looking to convert some of your extra foreign currency for Hong Kong Dollars (HKD), making sure you have the right currency is essential for not only a smooth trip but basic survival.
That’s coming from someone who has shown up to a country (or two), realizing that he had completely forgotten to (responsibly) exchange for the local currency before departing or even learn what the actual currency of said country was, resulting in a hectic scramble to find the nearest ATM followed by my bank rejecting a withdrawal because I forgot to inform them of my upcoming travel plans.
The point is that it’s always a good idea to have a reputable and efficient currency exchange in your back pocket should you need to convert foreign currency to HKD or vice versa.
The reality of currency exchanges is that there are both official (and honest) and black market money exchanges, which will give you a fair exchange rate or milk you for all your worth. A reasonable and fair exchange rate can make or break a budget, especially in a city like Hong Kong where every dollar counts.
No one wants to get taken advantage of by unfavorable currency exchange rates or hidden fees. However, finding a trustworthy currency exchange in a city you’ve never been to, or don’t know that well, can feel like an insurmountable task.
Here is my go-to currency exchange in Hong Kong that has proven itself to offer fair and competitive exchange rates along with efficient, consistent service so that you don’t get ripped off and/or have to settle for less-than-ideal conversion rates.
For being a former British colony, it can be damn near impossible to find a quality British pie in Hong Kong, innit? Did I use ‘innit’ correctly? I have no idea.
However, there is one longstanding British gastropub that reigns supreme when it comes to nailing the quintessential buttery, flaky, meat-filled British pie, including mandatory mash, beans, mushy peas, and an extra side of nostalgia, that Brits (and non-Brits as well) wistfully long for while looking out the window of their middle-office hellhole – The Globe.
So, if you’re craving a taste of home, here is what I consider to be the best British pie in Hong Kong.
Pale Ale Travel Note:While there are about one million reasons that I absolutely adore The Globe and consider it to be one of my favorite beer haunts (and one of the most underrated restaurants in the city), this post is strictly about British pies, so let’s get to the good stuff.
If you know this Big Body, then you know that gun to his head, he is choosing tsukemen, the pungent, savory dipping ramen, over traditional ramen, noodles served in a piping hot broth, any day of the week.
This is not a slight to the glory that is everything ramen. In fact, tsukemen is classified as ramen so it’s actually a celebration – a celebration of ramen in a lesser consumed form.
Look at me acting like Gary from 6th grade in his JNCO jeans and Bathing Ape hoodie when he obnoxiously always made sure to differentiate himself by proclaiming to everyone how he only listens to alternative music because mainstream radio edits are for “unoriginal posers.”
The point is, I’m #TeamTsukemen.
I must have latched onto tsukemen as my default ramen amalgam because I’m secretly a masochist who loves fumbling to pick up room temperature noodles with chopsticks followed by splashing its dark shoyu (soy sauce) broth all over the only nice button-down I own. The struggle is real. But that also makes it taste that much sweeter (saltier?).
Well, in my pursuit of finding the best tsukemen (and ramen) in Hong Kong, this Big Body was pleasantly surprised after stumbling on an unassuming ramen joint in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui for a coveted Thursday night hang with one of his top dawgs. Better yet, it was a spot serving up a noodle dish that appealed to both his gustatorily high-brow and prurient interests – that’s right, a lobster and BBQ pork tsukemen.
Here is why Ganso Tsukemen’s lobster and BBQ pork tsukemen should absolutely be on your ‘Hong Kong ramen radar’.
Look, I know it was a long flight to Hong Kong. You didn’t sleep well. They only had 3 random episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm teed up on the TV. You sat next to that one dude with a long mole hair protruding from his face and would awkwardly lean on your shoulder whenever he fell asleep. And you had some questionable jellied meat and petrified eggs that may or may not put a damper on your first day in the city.
How do I know this? I’ve been there before. Got the T-shirt. Thrown out my underpants. Embarrassingly called the hotel front desk to ask if they could send up a plunger. Hid my face as I awkwardly grasped said plunger from the hands of hotel staff. Experienced the unabating headache. Started the trip out already feeling like it wasn’t on my terms.
There are a lot of variables when it comes to traveling, some of them well within your grasp, others far outside.
While you can’t control whether or not the plane hits a stretch of turbulence on your way to Hong Kong, turbulence so devastating that it has you typing out “love you” messages to everyone you can think of, including your high school sweetheart Maria, who is married and happy now and still thinks you’re a loser because you lived at home with your mother for an extended period while you were figuring things out – fortunately, you can control how you get into the city center.
No dilly-dallying. No pitstops along the way. No B.S..
Here is the best way to get from Hong Kong Airport to the city center so that you can start your trip off in ‘Asia’s World City’ on sound footing.
