Practical Hong Kong
The small things, sorted.
Hong Kong is an easy city to travel once someone has told you the handful of systems that run it. These are the ones that matter on a first or second trip.
Money
The Hong Kong dollar is the currency, pegged to the US dollar. Cards and phone payments work almost everywhere, and the Octopus card covers transport, convenience stores and many cafes and fast-food counters. Cash still matters at dai pai dong, market stalls, small cha chaan teng and for red taxi fares, so carry some. ATMs are everywhere; your home bank's fees, not local charges, are usually the cost to watch.
Staying connected
A data eSIM is the painless route: buy before you fly, land connected, and use the data for maps, translation and the MTR app. Tourist SIMs are sold at the airport arrivals hall and in convenience stores if you prefer a physical card. Coverage is excellent across the city and the country parks' main trails; the far side of the outlying islands is the exception.
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Plugs and power
Hong Kong uses 220 volts and the British three-pin plug (Type G). Chargers from elsewhere need an adapter; heating appliances from 110 volt countries need a converter, not just an adapter. Most hotels keep adapters at the desk.
At the border
Hong Kong runs its own immigration system, separate from mainland China's: most visitors enter visa-free for a period that depends on nationality, from seven days to six months, so check yours before you fly. There is no arrival card to complete in advance. Travellers continuing to the mainland need a mainland visa or a visa-free arrangement of their own, arranged before the trip, not at the border. The drug laws are severe and enforced: do not carry anything across the border, in either direction.
Weather that moves events
Typhoons and black rainstorms are the two signals that stop the city. When the Observatory hoists typhoon signal 8 or above, or a black rainstorm warning, outdoor events are cancelled or postponed, most transport stops, and venues announce new dates on their own channels: on this site, any event in those weeks is worth a second check against its official source before you set out. Summer is hot and humid with afternoon downpours; October to December is the clear, dry season the big outdoor calendar is built on.
Emergencies
Police, fire and ambulance are all on 999. Public hospitals run accident and emergency departments that treat visitors, and the private hospitals in the city are excellent; travel insurance that covers medical care is the one piece of paperwork worth arranging properly. Tap water is safe to drink, and the city is walkable at almost any hour.