[yvanwyk]

Hi
Need some advice. My partner and I want to spend some time abroad before settling down. Neither of us have spent time in the East, and are seriously considering going to either Hong Kong or China (Shanghai). I would appreciate some information regarding living and working in Hong Kong. What is the lifestyle like? Anyone that can compare Hong Kong to mainland life? Your help is much appreciated.

[cerberus]

HK's much more liberal, less racist, and offers the information freedom you'd expect from a civilized place nowadays. on the other hand, mainland locations like beijing present much more space, more relaxed living, lower costs, friendlier people, travel opportunities and a different mood altogether. for one, the weather's more interesting up north.

overall, if i had to choose right now, i'd go with HK.

[Mat]

I would not say that chinese are racist..I would say that they are nationalist...
Having spent quite sometime in China I never felt racism..however I felt nationalism and huge proud of being chinese....
Anyway if you want a more "adventure" life then you go for China..it is definitely more promising than HK, more unstable also..but much more different from US or Europe.
HK is a mix of both Asia and Western culture. Living on HK island (except some part) you will have the impression to live almost like home. Living in some remote parts of New Territories or in some Kowloon area you will feel very much the chinese side of HK....

It all depends what you fook for...
adventure/shock/huge change..then choose China
transition/shock but still easy to find more western lifestyle..then go for HK
If you go for Shanghai, it can also be a good mix of asia and western culture as the city is developping really fast and opening itself more and more...

[hughb2000]

i agree that it completely depends on what you are looking for and the comparisons the last 2 posters gave are a bit vague but the general idea is there..

one thing i will add is that if you dont speak mandarin or arent willing to learn then i would stear closer to HK

[Tartampion]

ShangHai is boring, Hong Kong is more like fifty-fifty oriental-occidental culture, which could be a good start if you've never stayed in Asia, ShangHai, if you don't speak chinese, well, you're going to miss everything and get bored quickly.

[yvanwyk]

Thanks for the advice. At least I have a starting point. I don't want such a huge culture shock, and neither of us speak Mandarin (which I'm willing to learn, but chances of me attaining any fluency are small?).

My partner wants to go to Shanghai for the challenge and the massive growth happening there (I thing he believes HK to be boring in comparison). My fear of mainland China is related to the masses of people (coming from Africa I prefer open spaces), pollution, language, cultural change (though I love learning about foreign cultures), and generally ending up in an apartment the size of a shoebox with nothing to do with myself (images of "Lost in Translation" conjuring itself in my mind).

Hong Kong on the other hands seems more anglified which makes the language barrier easier and easier to assimilate myself in.

Are my perceptions wrong?

[Mat]

well if you like spaces..HK is not really the place to go....:-) it is quite small here and really overpacked...at least in the center...New Territories, Lantau, Lamma and HK Island south are more for you in that case.

[Sazzy]

I felt like 'Lost in translation' when I first arrived in Hong Kong but at least there was no language barrier which you would face in Shanghai. This was also my first visit to Asia and you will get the culture shock - HK is different but I think China will be more different. I havent been to Shanghai but I believe that those little luxuries that you will look for are more easily found in HK.
HK is a great place to live.

[cerberus]

thee mainland's vastly superior in terms of space per person. you can live in lanzhou or places like qinghai where it's a couple of millions people for a couple of million square kilometers.

[harshad]

i had never been to shanghai, but surely my two visits in hongkong this year were quite comfortable in all respects. I think hk is more of a cosmopolitan place where you can go along with the language barrier aswell. You can atleast find some english speaking people (in general)there in hk, but I really doubt abt Shanghai.

The communication and the culture both might be a problem.