Ask garcia1000 about Hong Kong

[garcia1000]

Culture things you might like:
Visit Victoria Park during mid-autumn festival or June 4. Lots of people gather and stuff, and laze around.

Visit any of the many fairs that locals go to, such as the Book Fair, Food Fair, Industrial Products expo, and so on. A fun time, you can buy stuff, although you might feel claustrophobic if you aren't used to lots of people.

Take pictures of the gas station prices. Hong Kong has the most expensive petrol in the world! My most recent filling up was at $1.85/litre, or $6.98/gallon.

Don't go to the Hong Kong Disneyland! It is the tiniest Disneyland in the world. The only way it even happened is the government went into one of its periodic delusions of grandeur and spent billions of taxpayer money and gave it to Disneyland.

[entertainme]

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WTF? I am still pissed at how it rejected my form. I spent a lot of time typing that [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

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This happens if you take too long before you hit post. Usually you can recover what you wrote by hitting your back button. Or, if you know it took you a while, copy the text, open a new "post" window, and copy it into the new one.

As long as I'm here:

Here's a travel thread on Hong Kong.

What's the name of the place on the Kowloon side where you buy your seafood from the vendor then pay the restaurant to cook it? Is it Lei Yue Mun?

A reminder to all visitors to bargain the price on any goods they buy.

Also, your EDF readers may be interested in hearing about BBoss.

[garcia1000]

Lei Yue Mun is a place for seafood. What happens is that you see stalls of seafood vendors, and they are all selling seafood. Then you buy the seafood, and take it to a nearby restaurant. The restaurant will cook the seafood for you.

Here's a link to a photo of this: http://www.asia2002.gov.hk/press/pict/details_29.htm
Quote from that page: "Cantonese seafood is at its exquisite best in the seafront restaurants of Lei Yue Mun. Diners can choose their own fish from tank-fulls of options. They can get ripped off by the unscrupulous vendors there and buy overpriced crappy seafood."

This is a good idea for novelty reasons, but for visiting tourist gourmets it is a bad idea. Why?

1) The good seafood will go to the locals with whom the seafood vendors have an incentive to sell good stuff to for their repeat business.
2) Are you more qualified than the restaurant to choose good seafood?

Lei Yue Mun is also a tourist-type of place. I went there once and hated it. For fresh seafood in this style, I go to an out-of-the-way place in Yuen Long, but you won't have a chance of finding it on a tourist trip, and it's very local. Instead, you should go to Sai Kung for this. In addition to there being lots of expatriates there, there is also good seafood in the same style, and menus in English!

Here's a link to a picture of a Sai Kung: http://www.ust.hk/adchem2003/photo/DSC00320.jpg


Bargaining - This depends on where you buy things.
Do bargain in the following areas:
Non-branded computer and electronics stores (e.g. Golden Computer Centre, 298 Computer Centre)
Department stores
Do not bargain in the following:
All others

Club Bboss - This is a huge Japanese style nightclub. I haven't been in this place. I believe they give luxurious service to your penis?

If you are white, fit, and attractive, you shouldn't have any problems satisfying your penis in Lan Kwai Fong or similar bars or clubs. If you're black, you shouldn't have any problem if you also have game. I don't know much about these nightclubs. Sorry [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[rakes.a.beach]

I have been to Hong Kong a few times when I was much younger with my parents. I plan to visit this Christmas break with a couple of my international student friends from school.

1) How do I know if the food on the streets are safe? or should I just stay away from them all together?

2) How do clothes/shopping prices compare to the U.S? or more specifically, los angeles.

[garcia1000]

Hi guys,

I will be back on Thursday!

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1) How do I know if the food on the streets are safe? or should I just stay away from them all together?

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Generally speaking 99% of street stall food will be safe. I would not worry about this. You stand a higher risk of getting food poisoning from eating sushi or other improperly prepared raw food.


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2) How do clothes/shopping prices compare to the U.S? or more specifically, los angeles.

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You guys have A&F jeans selling for $120 or so, right? I believe Hong Kong will be much cheaper.

Here is a representative price list for decent quality casual wear: http://hk.e-giordano.com/?cluture=zh-hk&lang=SC
USD 1 = HKD 7.75

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

Do Triads extort local businesses?

[mindflayer]

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Here are the topics regarding Hong Kong that I feel I am qualified to talk about:
Economics, finance
Business (I know a lot about most industries)
Politics (internal and external)
Food
Culture
Tourism
General lifestyle


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Industries... Corrugated Cardboard boxes?!?
I import boxes from China now but am looking for a new supplier of boxes. One of the key issues is Quality of cardboard. Do you know anything about Hong Kong /Chinese Cardboard standards. (I have some very detailed questions I would like to ask.)

[garcia1000]

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Do Triads extort local businesses?

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Depends on where your business is located. For example, if you are in the CBD, you won't be extorted. If you are in outlying suburbs, probably. The 'protection fee' is generally not onerous, they get profits from volume instead.

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Industries... Corrugated Cardboard boxes?!?
I import boxes from China now but am looking for a new supplier of boxes. One of the key issues is Quality of cardboard. Do you know anything about Hong Kong /Chinese Cardboard standards. (I have some very detailed questions I would like to ask.)

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I have no idea! You are out of luck, the most recent thing I focussed on was textiles manufacturing. It will probably be around half a year before I do paper.

I do know which companies make corrugated cardboard boxes. For example, Nine Dragons Paper makes cardboard, so does Lee & Man paper.

Your best bet would be to read the prospectuses of the listed companies, or browse their websites.

[TwoOuter]

Thanks for the thread.

On the skytram up to the Giant Buddha, I saw people walking up the mountain. Seems like a pretty arduous hike (it was about 90 degrees that day).

Have you ever done this? Any idea how long distance-wise and how long time-wise it might take? I understand that this is very subjective, just a ballpark-time would be cool.

[Point Point]

How can a non-Hong Kong resident open a bank account in Hong Kong? Can one do it as an individual or would you have to establish a Hong Kong corporation to do so?