Culture

While visiting, renting or living in Hong Kong, the residing culture can provide a kaleidoscope of experiences where the East truly meets the West. Hong Kong a former Crown Colony of the British since 1841 maintains its Western influences but still remains true it’s Chinese Heritage. Despite the 1997 handover of sovereignty to mainland China, Hong Kong has retained an identity of its own and has been commonly known as a gateway to China.

English can be considered as a second language in Hong Kong, second to Cantonese the most widely spoken language in City. With a high majority of people that can speak English, Hong Kong is a tourist friendly City that offers relatively easy transition if you want to live or rent in Hong Kong for the long term. In Hong Kong, it is common to have an English version as well as the Chinese version for written information, with the high transparency of information in Hong Kong, the inability to read and understand Chinese is not a major hindrance. There are also 2 free to air channels that are broadcast in English and provide Western televised programmes, these channels also include English subtitles for the occasional Chinese speaking programmes.

Hong Kong has multitude of international dining options, as expected there are countless Cantonese Chinese restaurant and cafes, and also other Chinese Cuisine from regions such as Beijing, Shanghai, Szechuan and Hunan to choose from. In Hong Kong It is hard to find any culture from across the world not represented by the food on offer, if Western fare is to your liking, you can be spoilt for choice in areas like Soho, Central, Admiralty, Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui. Many expatriates choose to live and rent an apartment around Soho and similar areas for this reason.

Hong Kong has many large and modern venues for the Arts. Performances that are on offer can reflect the East meets West culture of Hong Kong, which can range from Western Opera, Ballet, and Classical Music to Hong Kong Canto-Pop and Traditional Chinese Opera. Many well known international acts also perform in Hong Kong and nearby in Macau, if you live or rent in Hong Kong you are never short of options. While living or renting in Hong Kong, the people here can come across quite brash at times. Don’t be offended as the busy City life can sometimes leave little room for common courtesies. In Hong Kong, Filial Piety (a respect of elders and ancestors) is an important virtue of the Hong Kong and Chinese Culture. Family values are strong in Hong Kong Society, where specific days are dedicated to the family like Chinese New Year and Ching Ming, which provide a treasured and welcome break from the rat race.

There is a fundamental right for religious freedom in Hong Kong, with Buddhism and Taoism representing the two major religions in Hong Kong which has more than 600 temples dedicated to these practises. There is also a large population of practising Christians and Muslims, with Churches and Mosques that can also be found in Hong Kong. Chinese in Hong Kong and in general are quite superstitious, despite living in this modern international city, Fung Shui still play a major role in the planning and architecture of buildings. Numbers like 4 is avoided as the pronunciation in Chinese is akin to the word death, while the number 8 is desired as the sound is similar to the word prosper, and remember never give a clock to a Chinese person as a gift.

Information on Culture provided by Home Net, Licensed Hong Kong Real Estate Agency.