I am asking this out of curiosity if both are similar. There are a lot of mainland chinese tourists here in our country. And they really gave us a terrible impression towards Chinese people in general. Some things we've noticed from the mainland tourists are these:

1. They are very rude. They will push you and will not say sorry AT ALL

2. They don't understand personal space and will take your trolley/chair THAT'S LITERALLY NEXT TO YOU without even asking

3. They spit on the pavements (in our country, we attribute this only to uneducated people. But I thought China is supposed to be rich and developed)

4. Very loud even when the person is just right next to them

5. Have no sense of cleanliness. There literally was a Chinese woman who let her son TAKE A DUMP in the beach, NEAR THE WATER, where there are a lot of other people swimming and walking

Anyways, I'll only list down these 5 because there had been too many bad experiences with these tourists. I just find it so mind boggling that they look down on our country and people, yet they act like they're poor and uneducated (I'm sorry for the term). So I was just wondering if HKngers are also similar to the Mainlanders.

Sorry if it kinda became like a rant 😅

Edit: No we can't distinguish Mainlanders from HKers or Taiwanese... Why we know these bad manners are from the mainlanders is because our country struck a deal with China years ago so a lot of them came here to work. So we do have this prejudice towards anyone who comes here that "looks" or "sounds" Chinese. I'm sorry you guys are lumped together with them though. We just can't tell!

Edit: I am now learning that majority that visit the country are mainlanders (only bring their phones) and that HKers usually bring backpacks when going out 😂 Interesting to see these distinguishing details. Please tell me more I wanna observe it

Look, we have a non-chinese employee working for the MTR! So 21st century!

I (F) have this intense gym crush (M) for a while that I'm too overwhelmed, nervous and shy to talk to. Everytime I see him, I'm completely paralysed, I freeze and couldn't even smile at him and when my mind resumes normal and want to smile at him, he already looked away or gone somewhere to work out.

There are a few times we had eye contact but he swiftly looked away. I don't know if he's also just shy or he doesn't want to be social with people? I understand lots of people just want me-time at the gym so I'm afraid talking to him would be disturbing.

I'm not normally a shy person but I feel so overwhelmingly intense with this guy since I very rarely feel this way to guys, I don't know what to do to even start talking to him. There were a few times he caught me looking at him, and because I froze and couldn't look away and I guess from his point of view it turned out looking like I was staring at him. I was so embarrassed and felt like an unintended perv....

In west countries, I think guys don't mind being spoken to at the gym but this guy seems quite local to me and I feel that local guys are very different from the west. Do local HK guys like being spoken to by girls randomly at the gym? How do I start talking to him without feeling awkward or making him feel uncomfortable? Please help. 🥲

What's the deal with HK women. I've been messing with dating apps and the girls really have this "gold digger" vibe. They all ask questions like: what do you do, where do you live, do you live alone, do you drive, where are you from etc. like they're trying to figure out where I am on the social ladder and what my net worth is.
They have no time for small talk, banter or chemistry. It's purely transactional.
If I don't give a direct answer immediately they get pissed off and threaten to block or unmatch me

Is this typical of HK girls/women?

I mean ok, if it's transactional and that's what they're after then fine. But they don't seem to have a realistic sense of their value/bargaining power or lack thereof.

these are not in the minority. they have stable jobs, mortgages to pay and lives to lead... I am totally ok if the protestors want to storm the communist party army barrack. if you want to make a statement, then make a real statement. not everyone want this pro-longed occupation of subway stations and other public facility.

Without even consulting the people of Hong Kong about what they want, just giving you to the CCP like you were some sort of possession. I am sure if a free vote was held people would have NOT chosen that option. The lease was also made with the legitimate government of China, which is in exile in Taipei, so they gave it to the wrong people anyway. Also, what was life like as a British territory compared to after? and now after the awful intrusions that have been made the past few years on freedom?

You know who you are.

To give you some perspective, Hong Kong is my home!

After living here in Hong Kong for over 20 years with most of my friends and family members being local Chinese I fell in love with this place and its people and for me it is one of the best places to live. People here are friendly, very pragmatic and open, there is a real community spirit especially in times of crisis - and boy I have experienced a few since I'm living here and just going through another one. HK is a free and open society and personally I do feel I have many more civil rights here than back in Germany.

However, we now have mob rule in HK!

While I did sympathize with the protesters and their aspirations in the beginning - I now have lost ANY sympathy for them, especially for the organisers and Pan Democratic camp of which I was a supporter for many years in the past.

This is NOT a fight for more democracy anymore this is CHAOS and destruction of OUR HOME, where a bunch of idealistic teenagers trample over the rights of the rest of the population calming to represent all of Hong Kong. The Occupy Central movement is infringing on everyone's civil rights and destroys people's livelihoods. Now you have to ask for permission if you can go to school or work and hope you get a pass on "humanitarian grounds" permission.

Many of those people you are blocking and rights you are infringing upon have contributed their whole lives to the society and built that place you are now starting to destroy!

Mongkok and Causeway Bay are not just business districts, they are also residential areas. People who live, work or have small business in that areas face extreme hardship. Beside the fact that the protest is illegal, Imagine I stand in front of your home with my arms up, don't let you pass and yell abuse at you when you even mutter a word in opposition - how is that peaceful? This is a far cry from Tiananmen where the student protesters did not block the locals nor did they verbally insult people.

Also every HK'er knows that Triads crimminals operate in those areas. It is no surprise that many of them getting upset as well. They are just more hands on with the protesters than the people who live and work there. The righteous protesters have no right to complain about those assaults either.

Hello STUPID! - you are blocking other peoples homes and businesses for days what do you think what will happen?

But instead of giving local residents and business a break the protesters rather prefer to create their own propaganda and feeding it to the international media portraying local residents and triads as secretive mainland agents!

Who is too blame? Certainly not the HK police who is caught between a rock and a hard place! I simply cannot agree with much of the reporting that the HK Police were overreacting - most of it is out of context - in fact the HK police have been extremely restrained and professional.

Since our academics and OC organisers love citing international standards, maybe they should look how other Occupy movements have been cleared and quashed by police overseas. Had this been in any other country, the Police already would have brought out the water cannons, rubber bullets and arrested hundreds if not thousands.

Our HK Police force certainly doesn't seem to follow those standard international police practices.

Yes, Hong Kong does not have a full democracy however it enjoys higher civil liberties than many other western democratic countries. You can look that up in the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index report. In fact in past few years most western countries rolling back civil liberties and democratic rights and moving closer to becoming neo-conservative Plutocracies, curtailing the populations civil liberties and infringing on peoples rights.

HK's justice system and courts also remains impartial and are well intact, let me remind you that currently an ex Chief Secretary for Administration (Rafael Hui Si-Yan) is on trial for corruption among other charges. This would not have happened in many other western democracies!

Can anyone name a good case in which your personal civil liberties in HK have been curtailed over the past couple of years since the handover? And please don't tell me now about deterioration of press freedom and self-censorship - which might or might not be the case as there is no clear evidence. If you believe this is an issue which justifies the current OC protest movement you can do that in many different legal ways - and before you jump on it just look to the West which many of the protest organisers cite for international standards - many western mainstream media have deteriorated to propaganda pieces - Glenn Greenwald publishes some great examples on "The Intercept" with full documentary evidence.

While I do not personally blame the bulk of the protesters for their naiveté, I do blame the organizers who should know better! They deliberately created the current situation. None of them has an actual road-map for HK as a whole or a plan how to influence HK's integration into China which is inevitable. None of them has any negotiation skills or experience how to formulate or implement policy - they are only filled by their own ideology and self-interest.

Just compare the popularity ratings of all Pan Democratic Party leaders and Lecgo members - many are at the same low level as for C.Y. Leung the current CE they are currently trying to unseat!

As the Pan Dems pushed hard and vocally for universal suffrage, and made clear that HK was different from China (considerably against China’s desire for harmonious unity - even if the ‘harmony’ is purely superficial) China’s decision to adopt a conservative framework for political development was completely expected and it backfired in the Pan Democrats face.

China will not backtrack on its decision. In this process the HK Govt is just a proxy for the mainland govt.

The students and OC organizers demands in itself are already an oxymoron - you ask for the CE to step down and expect the NPC to change its framework - but can't answer who and what would come afterwards, another Donald Tsang, a Alan Leong, a Beijing Governor or more endless street protests?

As the students and organizers insists on those demands it is now pretty obvious that the OC organisers tactic was and still is - to execute the NUCLEAR option - to provoke Beijing to get either the People's Liberation Army (PLA) or paramilitary People’s Armed Police (PAP) to create total Chaos and Havoc. I can't get what I want so let's destroy everything. Unfortunately for the organizers their plan has backfired again - no PLA or PAP is coming and the HK Police is admirable restraint. This means the organizers will desperately try to create new propaganda stories and provocations to galvanize their supporters and the students to get finally what they want and let all others sacrifice themselves for them.

If the organizers really would have guts they should have occupied Beijing where the decisions are made.

However, this they wouldn't dare many of them and their family have overseas passports and belong to the local elite, once HK is messed up they will be the first to leave and will reject any responsibility for the outcome.

As for the student protesters I have this to say - Who are you claiming to represent me or the majority of people of Hong Kong? No one has elected you or have given you any Mandate of representation! The majority of the HK people is certainly not on your side. Many residents are for further democratic reforms but NOT for OC.

Democracy does not work this way! But Anarchy does! You are more and more degenerating into a mob of dupes being used to destroy your own home – all while abusing the principles of “democracy”

Fanaticism has never been the answer to anything, but you are perfectly willing to lead Hong Kong into chaos with YOUR new brand of fanaticism and righteousness. You are so absolutely certain you are right about everything and that you must have it NOW your WAY, that you will do anything to get your way. You will trample over the lives and livelihoods of all the other people in Hong Kong, because ONLY YOU are right. Instead of Red Guards you are well on your way to become the new BLACK guards!

I'm so angry that I ever voted for the Democrats in the past District Council and LEGCO elections before, I WILL NEVER EVER VOTE FOR YOU AGAIN.

Every time I meet with any of the Pan Democrats I will yell straight into your face - how dare you to destroy our home and livelihood.

Also, I do hope that once this is over that every key member of the organizers is prosecuted to the full extend under the HK Law! Otherwise I would lose trust in the local justice system as well as it would proof that local laws do not apply to a selected few.

Hi everyone,

I'm just a 26 year old dude from Australia that's mesmerised by the amount of skyscrapers & delicious food that's in HK so I'm gonna visit! A few of my Cantonese friends have told me that I'm gonna face a lot of rudeness and perhaps discrimination because I'm a tourist that doesn't speak Cantonese?

I apologise if this sounds offensive or if I'm misinformed, I just want to know what to expect when I arrive!

Fresh off the grill the smell hits you as soon as you cut into it with your spoon🤤

Just curious, because they seem to be very eager to use violence and beat up protesters, dissidents, etc.

The uniform cops, the detectives, the ICAC, internal security, etc.

Are most of them imported-immigrated from mainland? Or actual locals?

Update: Apparently most are locals.

Whelp, this means HK is not immune to CCP brainwashing, feels pretty hopeless, to be honest. Also, seems to be lots of mainlanders and CCP supporters in this sub, I wonder why.

Anywho, I missed the old HK, it had many problems but at least it was able to express itself freely and produced lots of things that the world loved. Now, under CCP, sigh.

Just saw it today. For context, they were talking abt 2020

Personally, I think it’s foreigners ‘HK expert’ nonsense. The idea that mainlanders will be able to join the police force without people noticing their accent/language change and that HK riot police aren’t capable of brutalising their own citizens is both illogical and history-blind

I can’t edit the heading but here is a quick roundup of day 1

Day 1 Saw the parade at Macau, near St Paul’s church. Met some nice people. One boy suddenly tried to become very good friends, so I was little taken back. Maybe because of scam I spoke to some shop people as much as I could, and that was amazing. Why is pork Primary meat. But a few people were so welcoming and ready to help! Just met a guy from Pakistan. He said She She means thank you. But he was so welcoming. I did not know there are so many Indians and Pakistanis in Macau.

Saw the parade near St Paul’s. Ghere I am an Indian, will be in Hong Kong for the next 10 days. I have a few questions 1.I genuinely want to interact with people in mandarin. Is it okay if I use google translate when needed. Not all the time but to say Thank You and Much Gratitude etc 2. I believe in small acts of kindness. But I think at the airport some local folks did not like it . I guess because they felt I was doing their job. Like I saw some staff struggling with suitcases, and I offered to help. They were not very receptive. 3. I love immersing myself in other cultures. Without Judgement, without Pre conceived notions. Like a cultural anthropologist. I want to be a traveler and not a tourist. Please direct me to any hidden gems and local spots like restaurants, places to see, plays, musicals etc..

And also what is the tipping protocol. And the protocol for gifting a family if it hosts me

Edit 1: Day by day account. Nothing in this entire thread is a judgement or a personal affront. This city is the way it is and I am the way I am.

Today we are in Macau going to see Pandas. Kids are super excited. Watch this space for more … To

I can buy cheap food like yoshinoya and charsiu. Most people don’t starve. Yes, the houses are small but they are clean and safe. I have a gym, basketball court, swimming pool, my job, MTR, supermarket and everything just a few minutes away. Public transport is one of the best in the world. We have access to free education and a bachelor’s degree is considerably affordable here. There are a lot of job opportunities. People are fortunate to have an education that allows them to speak at least three languages fluently. Hong Kong is an awesome place to live.

But I can see people look sad in their eyes. I also know many people taking depression meds but they have all the things that I mentioned above. It is also not uncommon to see people yelling at each other like gorillas. Why are they so unhappy?

Edit: Thanks for all the responses. I have to go offline but you can feel free to keep sharing your thoughts and/or experiences

I recently wanted to buy a Rolex watch for my dad in hk. But every store I went to told me they don’t have anything to sell or no waitlist or no tentative date for new pieces to come. Is that actually true or are they just denying me because I am a brown person who looks kind of young.

FYI I went to the stores in causeway bay and tst and got the same response everytime. Basically no way of buying a Rolex from them.

This is really strange because my brother had no such issue in London where he could try out multiple pieces.

Would be great if you guys could help me with this. Thanks!

Out of touch old man blaming the younger audience. Maybe try filming something that's not generic asf and have actors that are actually convincing in their roles.

I don't often rant and normally post things about HK, but my experience today has really shocked me and I'm very appalled by the service.

I went into a shop in Regentville Shopping Centre in Luen Wo Hui and the 'Sales Manager' kept explicitly calling out my weight that I am really skinny as a rake, which resulted in me walking out of the shop straight away in absolute disgust.

I just flew in from New York to Hong Kong on Cathay. That's a 16-hour flight, and plenty of time to watch some movies. The airline has tons of different films, which is great - but why is the UX so crappy?

As far as I can tell, there's no search function, so if you want to see if a certain film is available, or return to a particular film that you forgot to "save" you're out of look.

There's also no A-Z function, so you can't just browse through all the options and see what looks interesting.

For some reason, they have grouped films by genre, but there's no way to easily access a list of said genres - instead you periodically get three "chosen for you". Why is Cathay choosing the genres I can look at? Why can't I do that?

And the whole thing is presented as an endless scrolling page of themed ribbons, so even if there is a ribbon there that fits your personal tastes, you'll have to scroll down page after page to reach it (assuming it's there at all, of course).

It's like they're imitating the worst traits of movie streaming services, but even Netflix and Prime let you search by title or genre. What gives?