[stylecode]

Hi people.

I'm curious as to why so many people choose to come to Hong Kong of all places? Besides the obvious reason of 'Profession' or company transfer.

Any comments would be much appreciated.

[KnowItAll]

Looks like you have some doubts about HK. So... why not begin with telling us "why not"?

[ariva]

I am relocating to HK and have a few doubts.
1) Don't know anyone
2) Heard its crowded, polluted, every street looks the same, weather is terrible

I don't know if this is true so don't everyone beat up on me for criticising HK. They are just my doubts (justified or unjustified)

[fly]

That is a fair question. I guess a large part of the answer will depend on yourself, and how open you are to new experiences relating to living/working in different parts of the world, learning about new cultures, making new friends, etc. If you are the adaptable type and don't come over expecting things will be "just-like-home", you should find the transition much easier.

To address your direct concerns:
> 1) Don't know anyone
You will (probably) meet people in the office to start with, and there is a decent expat community here that will probably make this less of a concern once you settle in.
> 2) Heard its crowded, polluted, every street looks the same, weather is terrible
That sounds like many of the cities I've lived in! Yes it's crowded, but there's also quiet areas of town for a quick getaway from it all (southside, hills, new territories); pollution is not unlike every major city, streets with character are in the eye of the beholder (where else will you see someone's laundry hung out to dry right across from your office window?); weather does get humid and sticky for large part of the year, but it's better than shovelling snow or drizzling rain any day!

Personnally speaking, I did come for the obvioius "professional" reasons, as well the opportunity and timing was right, and this will be different for everyone. I'm not sure if I would have come without the corporate support beneath me, but I was sure that I did not want to regret not having taken the chance when it was offered.

Good luck whatever your decision turns out to be!

[HMC]

Transportation is convenient.
I like walking on the hills.
Sailing!!
I don't know why, but I like crowded places.

[lowlight]

I came here for a couple reasons:

1) Experience. I wanted to try something different. I have been living in Canada all my life, and just want to GO somewhere else for a change. My business is internet based, so I can go anywhere I want.

2) Language. My girlfriend/future wife is Chinese (her parents are from HK, she's born in Canada). If we want to have a family, it will be very important to her that her children speak both languages. So if they do, I have to as well!

3) Friends and family. Being from Vancouver, we have a lot of friends going back and forth, and like I said above, my GF's family is from here, so it's good to spend time with them too...

4) Central location. I would like to visit many parts of Asia. Being based in HK, I am pretty much right in the middle, so it's not too far to visit say, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, China, etc, etc, etc... Doing that from Canada is a very expensive trip - a 'once in a year' kind of thing. This way, I can make a 1 week vacation whenever I want

5) Hong Kong. I love it here! Don't let the "expats" discourage you! If you spend some time here, you will notice that most of the highly paid professionals who are here on huge expatriat payment packages will be very bitter and complain a lot. Ignore them. Talk to the locals! Talk to the people who are here because they WANT to be. Not because it got them a big bonus, but because they want to discover the uniqueness of this hilarious and awesome country

[ariva]

Thanks for your taking the time to detail why you are here. Its great of you to share your personal situation.

I've pretty much decided to come. Mainly for Fly's reason-- I didn't want to look back and regret not going. Hopefully if I keep a positive attitude things will fall into place.

[fly]

Welcome aboard, ariva, congratulations on your decision! I don't know about your background, but it can be a life-changing experience depending what stage you are in your life: I came over originally thinking I'd be back "home" after 2 yrs, 7 yrs on and this is now home. In a few years time, as the world continues to shrink (cliche, but true) who knows where we may all be?

[stylecode]

Become part of the mainland perhaps? Where the locals of HK accept what has become fate and call it quits, they appear to be a real disappointing bunch, how they bitch at each other calling them PRC's and how they aren't great or nice people.

Wow! It's really nice to hear your reasons on why you guys chose HK. I was really surprised to hear so many replies, thanks.

Personally, i come here to learn the most important thing in my life. Communicate in my native tongue, learn Cantonese and Mandarin. I haven't actually sat down to search for a job yet, although i heard the job market isn't too healthy right now. Who knows, maybe in the next few years i might think about looking for work.

Meanwhile, I'll be roaming the streets of Hong Kong with my new found friends, discovering everything that HK has to offer; everything from open karaoke to eating out in the streets under the moon light... strangest experience so far! First I must get to grips with the local transport system and the local lingo.....

HELP!

[JohnnyQ]

I came to HK cuz I got restless. Being an assistant purchaser for a little company in the midwest after growing up in the midwest all your life can do that to you. Finagled myself a position with one of our suppliers in Hong Kong, where I'd been a grand total of once. Guess I liked the street markets or something. Pollution? Well, I grew up next to a paper factory. My old office was next to a machine tool plant. (Glue fumes probably made me stupid, so you can take all my advice with a jar of salt).

So why'd I stay? I guess the attitude and energy here. People take their self-improvement seriously, and get rewarded for it. One time I thought about moving into the chemicals industry. Decided not to do it in the end, but I could have cuz there were places offering night classes for a chemistry degree. Couldn't have done that back home, where the only courses offered at night were GED prep and cosmetician's certificates. I saw my co-worker here teach himself Korean over the course of a couple of years, then got assigned a couple of prospective clients, next thing we know we've got 4 new major contracts to supply stuff to Korean clients, all thanks to him. He started later than me, but outranked me for a while precisely cuz of that. And that's damn well fair. People in my hometown generally learn enough Spanish to get into fights with Mexicans at bars. And if you promote someone ahead of his age due to exceptional ability, everyone starts a mutiny. (Unless his exceptional ability was Spanish or Portuguese, then it's "affirmative action" or "damn s**** are takin' over our country").

Don't wanna sound like I'm ragging on America all the time --- HK society has a lot of stuff I don't like, like classism, holding outsiders at arms' length and milking them for all they're worth (Americans/Aussies/Brits who can teach you English in their spare time, Indonesians who will iron your socks for 7 years but remain ineligible for permanent residency, etc), familial control, no privacy at the office on the pretext that it "enhances productivity" when everyone and the boss can spy on each other's monitors, micromanagement. But I guess I can just deal better with the kind of stupidity and ignorance I find here rather than the kind I grew up with (and took part in).