If you are moving to Hong Kong, here is a typical scenerio: you visit Hong Kong a couple of times at the expense of your company. Then when you move here, you are put up in a serviced apartment for a couple of months so that you can start working rightaway and meanwhile look for a place to live.

If you are hoping to move to Hong Kong, then first on the list may be to check out the job market. Knowing Chinese helps in finding a job in HK, but many expatriates live and work here without knowing much - Chinese, that is.

Here is some information you may find helpful for you to plan your relocation.

• area to live in - some popular areas for expatriates are Mid-Levels, Happy Valley, Discovery Bay, The Peak, south Hong Kong Island (e.g. Redhill district, South Horizons), Sai Kung, Clearwater Bay, Hong Lok Yuen (New Territories), Pok Fu Lum, Lamma Island, etc. (see also housing)
  
  
• serviced apartments - they seem to start at US$800 per month (as of 2008.9), and of course, you get what you pay for. more

• shipping - to ship your household belongings to Hong Kong, there are worldwide shippers that can get you a whole container worth of space or more. (Wouldn't it be nice if you could just move your whole house - house, yard, and garden?) They can provide even a shelf-to-shelf service: packing from the shelves you have at your existing home to putting the items up on the shelves of your new home. But then, your new home will probably be smaller than your existing one because space in Hong Kong probably costs more, and hence not everything will fit. (links to shipping companies)

• electrical products - Hong Kong household electricity is 240VAC 50Hz, which means that if you plug your 110VAC (USA) lamp in directly, it will light up once - very brightly, and then you may see some smoke. Some appliances may even explode. If you will be in Hong Kong for just a few months and don't want to buy everything new, you can get "step-down" transformers once you arrive to convert the electricity. But some electric clocks may still not work if they work on 60Hz only. When in doubt, read the label. In fact, read the instructions first because the transformer may become a step-up one depending on how to flip a switch: changing 220 volts to 440 volts! Plugging your 110V appliance in may not just light it up, it may set your whole body alight!
  
  
• schools - there're many schools for English-speaking kids, plus some for speakers of other languages. more (links to schools)
  
  
• taxes - compared to many western countries, the income tax is lower. And there is no sales tax... yet. (as of 2008.3.26) If you are an American citizen, you still have to file your tax return with the IRS. As long as you make below a certain amount, you won't be taxed - but don't take our word for it, you'd better check with your accountant. After all we won't be responsible for any advice we give here especially when it's dealing with the IRS!
  
  
• holidays - Hong Kong has about 15 public holidays each year. more
  
  
• banks - banks outnumber public bathrooms by a factor of at least 30 to 1, but then of course they serve entirely different purposes - different deposits. HSBC and the Bank of China are now the biggest chains, but if you like to deal with a bank from your own country, I suspect there is one here although you may not be able to draw funds directly from your account back home. But then you can probably access one of the thousands of ATM machines to get what you have with some kind of finance charge, and even get what you don't have: using your credit card.
  
  
• domestic helpers (aka maids, or to be politically correct, or butlers) - there are about 240,000 "domestic helpers" working in Hong Kong . They are usually from the Philippines or Indonesia on a work permit. Many of the local and expatriate families have a domestic worker to help with home chores ranging from cleaning, to child-care, and to just about anything to be done around the home. They are normally live-in's. There is a pretty much fixed, flat rate salary structure, and an employer (you) will also provide the costs of a trip back to their home country once a year. They are entitled to take sundays off plus all the Hong Kong public holidays.
  
  
• churches - a great way to get you and your family plugged in and feel more at home: Hong Kong life is more than hectic and can be very lonely. more (links to some churches)

• pets - bring them or leave them, here is some info to help you decide. more.
  
  
• cell phones - practically all cell phones in Hong Kong use a thumbnail-sized SIM card. If yours uses that, you can probably sign up with a service provider easily and use the same phone. If you're from US, I understand that once your cell phone is 'unlocked', you can just get a SIM card here and use the same phone. But of course don't take our word for it. Verify it with your carrier first.
  
  
• driver's license - Hong Kong has an agreement with many countries such that if you have a valid driver's license, you won't need to be tested in Hong Kong to be allowed to drive. (US DL holders: refer to this page.)
  
  
• cost of living - high, especially in terms of housing!
  
  
• jobs - check out the job market and the pay scales. more

Anything else you want to know? Drop us a line. Questions accompanied with good feedback always get first priority!