Living in Hong Kong: An Honest Guide for Anyone Thinking About It
1.5 years as a resident, not a tourist. Here’s what it actually taught me.
I lived in Hong Kong for a year and a half. I arrived with a suitcase and an idea of what the city would be like based on photographs and other people’s descriptions. Both were wrong. Hong Kong is one of those cities that only makes sense once you are inside it — its logic is not immediately obvious from the outside, but once you understand how it works, it becomes one of the most liveable places on Earth.
This is what I actually learned from eighteen months there. Not a tourist guide. An account of daily life from someone who lived it.
The First Thing to Understand About Hong Kong
Hong Kong is not China. This distinction matters and the people who live there understand it precisely. Hong Kong has its own legal system, its own currency, its own immigration controls, and its own cultural identity rooted in Cantonese language and culture. The political situation since 2019–2020 has changed things significantly, and any honest account has to acknowledge that. But the Hong Kong I lived in still felt distinctly itself — not mainland China, not a generic international city, something specific and irreducible.
The Year I Actually Lived There
I lived on Lockhart Road in Wanchai, and studied at City University of Hong Kong. That single fact tells most locals everything they need to know about the kind of eighteen months I had — Lockhart Road is Wanchai’s nightlife strip, bars and neon on one side of the block, and on the other, five minutes’ walk to campus, the MTR, and the harbour. It is not a quiet, leafy expat address. It is loud, central, and never fully asleep, and I would not have picked anywhere else.
I arrived in 2019. Within months, the protests had reshaped daily life across the city — MTR stations closing early or not opening at all, routes changing overnight, entire weekends where you’d plan around where the protests were rather than what you actually wanted to do. Then COVID arrived on top of that, and university moved entirely online almost without warning.
How I Actually Paid My Way — Tutoring During Lockdown
With classes online, I started tutoring maths and physics to students at a French international school in Hong Kong, whose own classes had also gone remote. The arrangement ended up working better than any normal schedule would have: I worked during the day, and did the actual tutoring sessions in the evenings and in the days right before exams, when students suddenly needed to compress a term’s worth of material into a few focused sessions.
This isn’t a one-off story specific to me — private tutoring is a genuinely enormous industry in Hong Kong. It’s common enough that tutoring companies advertise on billboards the way other cities advertise banks or phone carriers. If you’re a student moving there, or you know the subject well enough to teach it, tutoring is one of the most realistic ways to actually cover your own costs rather than relying entirely on savings or family support.
Back-to-back online sessions during exam weeks meant a laptop and phone running all day, often from a café or the library rather than home. A reliable power bank stopped being a nice-to-have and became the thing standing between me and a dropped call mid-lesson.
Getting Around: The MTR and Octopus Card
The MTR (Mass Transit Railway) is among the best metro systems in the world. Punctual to the minute, clean, air-conditioned to a temperature that seems designed for Scandinavian winters regardless of what it is doing outside, and covering almost every part of the urban area. The fare structure is distance-based and inexpensive — most journeys cost between HK$5 and HK$15 (roughly $0.65–$2 USD).
The Food
Hong Kong food culture is one of the best in the world. This is not a controversial opinion — it is the consensus of anyone who has spent time there. The density of good restaurants per square kilometre is probably unmatched anywhere.
Essential Hong Kong Food
- Dim sum (yum cha) — har gow, siu mai, char siu bao, egg tarts. Table of four: HK$200–350 ($26–45 USD).
- Cha chaan teng — Hong Kong café. Thick toast, condensed milk, Hong Kong milk tea. $4–8 USD per person.
- Wonton noodle soup — clear broth, thin egg noodles, shrimp-and-pork wontons. $5–8 USD.
- Roast meat — char siu, siu yuk, roast duck. Plate of char siu over rice: $6–10 USD.
The Cost of Living
Hong Kong is expensive. This is not a secret and there is no point softening it. Rent is the defining expense. A small studio apartment in a reasonable location will cost HK$10,000–15,000 per month ($1,300–$1,900 USD). Flatshares bring this down significantly.
Outside of rent, daily life is surprisingly affordable if you eat where locals eat. The expensive Hong Kong — rooftop bars, hotel restaurants, Western food in Central — is a choice, not a requirement. The affordable Hong Kong — dai pai dong open-air food stalls, cha chaan tengs, wonton shops, market food — is where most people eat most of the time, and it is genuinely excellent.
Where to Actually Live
Wanchai worked for me because I wanted to be in the middle of everything and didn’t mind noise — Lockhart Road is loud most nights, but you’re five minutes from the MTR, the harbour, and campus. It’s not the neighborhood most relocation guides point you to, and I’d be lying if I said it was quiet, but it never felt like a compromise.
Neighborhoods Worth Knowing
- Wanchai — central, loud at night around Lockhart Road, walkable to Central and the harbour. Good if you don’t mind noise and want to be near everything.
- Kennedy Town & Sai Ying Pun — the default pick for younger expats. Walkable, better-priced than Central by local standards, good MTR access on the western extension.
- Mid-Levels — more established, quieter, still central. Popular with professionals rather than students.
- Tsim Sha Tsui & Jordan (Kowloon) — cheaper than Hong Kong Island, and the more natural base if mainland China is part of your trip.
If you’re coming for a shorter stint — a semester, a work placement, or just scouting the city before committing to a lease — a short hotel or serviced-apartment stay while you view flats in person is worth the cost. Apartment listings rarely match reality, and Hong Kong moves fast enough that you want to be able to view and sign within days, not weeks.
The Hiking
Hong Kong is 70% countryside. This is the fact that surprises almost everyone. The urban density of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island is real but it is a small fraction of the total land area. The rest is country parks, forested hills, reservoirs, and coastline.
The hiking is accessible, free, and excellent. Dragon’s Back on the south side of Hong Kong Island offers views over the South China Sea and takes about two hours at a moderate pace. Lantau Island has two peaks over 900 metres. The Sai Kung peninsula in the New Territories is a different Hong Kong entirely — quiet inlets, clear water, almost no development.
Phone and Data
A local SIM card is cheap and easy to get from any 7-Eleven near the airport — tourist SIMs run around HK$100–150 ($13–20 USD) with unlimited data for one or two weeks. Monthly plans from local carriers run HK$100–200 ($13–26 USD).
If Hong Kong is one stop on a longer Asia trip, an eSIM covering multiple countries is better value than buying a new SIM card at every border. Covers HK, Korea, Japan, China, Thailand and more. Code KIMCHIBOY = 5% off.
Power and Travel Gear
Hong Kong uses the UK three-pin plug standard (Type G). Bring an adapter if you are coming from continental Europe or North America. If your Asia trip includes mainland China — and Hong Kong is a natural gateway to China — make sure any power bank you carry has the 3C certification mark visibly printed on the device.
I had a power bank confiscated at a Chinese airport for lacking this mark, despite being well within the capacity limits. The Baseus CCC-certified bank I now travel with passes every Asian customs checkpoint without issue. 20,000mAh, 45W fast charge.
What I Miss About Hong Kong
The MTR. The efficiency of it, the reliability of it, the way it makes a city of seven million people navigable without stress.
Dim sum on Sunday morning. Nothing has replaced this.
The density of good food at low prices. Even the most ordinary-looking shop front in Hong Kong has usually been serving the same dish for twenty years and doing it well.
The harbour. Standing at Tsim Sha Tsui at night looking at the Hong Kong Island skyline across the water is one of those views that does not diminish with familiarity. I saw it hundreds of times and it was good every time.
Would I Go Back?
Yes. Hong Kong changed after 2019 and anyone who tells you otherwise is not paying attention. But the food, the transport, the physical experience of the city, the hiking, the harbour — these are still there. The city still functions at an extraordinary level. It is still one of the most interesting urban environments on Earth.
If you are thinking about going: go. If you are thinking about living there: the cost and the pace are significant filters, but if you can manage both, it rewards the effort more than most cities do.
Hong Kong’s humidity destroyed my skin in ways Seoul never did — heavier, oilier days meant I leaned on a much lighter Korean routine than I expected to need. If you’re dealing with humid-climate skin, the Korean glass skin routine works better there than most Western skincare marketed for humidity.
Heading to Hong Kong or Asia?
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Common Questions
Is Hong Kong expensive to live in as an expat?
Yes — Hong Kong is one of the most expensive cities in the world, primarily due to housing. Rent for a small flat in a central area costs HKD 15,000–25,000+ per month ($1,900–3,200 USD). Food, however, is surprisingly affordable — a proper meal at a cha chaan teng (local diner) costs under $5. Budget around HKD 25,000–40,000 per month ($3,200–5,000) for a comfortable life.
Is it safe to live in Hong Kong as a foreigner?
Yes. Hong Kong has very low crime rates. Street crime is rare and public spaces are extremely safe at all hours. The main adjustment for Western expats is understanding the political climate and the relevant sensitivities around public expression since 2020.
What are the best areas to live in Hong Kong as an expat?
Kennedy Town and Sai Ying Pun on Hong Kong Island are popular with younger expats — walkable, well-priced by local standards, good MTR access. Mid-Levels is more established and quieter. Kowloon (especially Tsim Sha Tsui and Jordan) is cheaper and gives better access to mainland China. Wanchai is a good pick if you want to be central and don’t mind noise — see “Where to Actually Live” above.
How does Hong Kong compare to South Korea for expat life?
Hong Kong is more internationally connected with a stronger English presence and higher salaries. South Korea has lower costs of living, stronger social infrastructure, and arguably better quality of life for students and researchers. Both have world-class public transport. Hong Kong food culture centres on Cantonese cuisine; Korean food culture is equally serious but entirely different.
Do you need to speak Cantonese to live in Hong Kong?
No, but it helps significantly. In business and professional environments, English is widely spoken. In everyday life — wet markets, older restaurants, government offices — Cantonese is the dominant language. The Papago and Google Translate apps handle the gap reasonably well. Learning basic Cantonese phrases is worth the effort.
Can international students study in Hong Kong?
Yes — Hong Kong universities, including City University of Hong Kong where I studied, host large international student populations and have established student visa processes. Requirements and permitted work hours change, so check Hong Kong’s Immigration Department directly for current rules rather than relying on any single blog post, including this one.
Can students make money on the side in Hong Kong?
Private tutoring is extremely common and one of the most realistic options — it’s a large enough industry that tutoring companies advertise on billboards. Whether it’s permitted alongside your specific visa depends on your visa type and hours restrictions, so check the terms of your own visa before committing to regular paid work.