Hong Kong Local Custom Tips by Vita500

Language barrier Language Review

One wouldn't expect it after more than 150 years of British annexation but Hong Kong's overall English skills are not considerably good.

There are three main reasons:
a) The British annexation was not necessarily well perceived among HK's population and lead to an inevitable lack of interest in learning the language.
b) Honk Kong's education system mainly focuses on reading and writing skills rather than listening and speaking. Hence, most people might be able to write and read fluently but are almost unable to converse or understand.
c) After the handover in 1997 streams of mainland Chinese were flooding into HK. Since most people from mainland China have only little or no command of English, the overall skills kept declining.

In most tourist areas, however, the skills are usually good and shouldn't cause any problems.

Keep smiling / keep attitude

One of the worst things for Asians to happen is loosing face in front of other people.
Therefore, always try to keep attitude and smiling. Don't try to force your opinion onto someone.

People are also much more polite and at your service if you treat them with respect and you might find it easier to get what you were looking for at the end!!!