Moving from Sweden to Hong Kong

Hong Kong is increasingly becoming a popular expat destination, with a rising number of expatriates moving to the city each year.

High levels of safety, a thriving jobs market and entertainment are some of the reasons why families and young professionals are settling on a long term basis.

If you are considering moving, here are a few tips: 

Getting around

In Hong Kong, The Octopus AKA ‘The Pus’ is a smart card that can be used on all forms of transport and also to buy food, clothes, coffees and collect redemption points. If you are moving to Hong Kong, you will want to ensure you have the card with you at all times.

Food

You may recognize famous dishes such as Peking duck pancake, chow Mein and shrimp fried rice but there will also be plenty of exotic foods and delicacy’s you have never even heard of. Popular snacks include, abalone which is a large sea snail, fried pigeon tongue and jellyfish tentacles. It’s safe to buy fruit and vegetables from the markets but avoid buying meat products as they often aren’t what they appear to be. 

Language

Cantonese isn’t an easy language to learn but if you are moving it’s important that you at least master the basics. Realistically anything from 5-7 years of learning is what it will take to be able to hold fluent conversations. It’s advisable that you enroll on a full language course years in advance of your move. 

Explore

There are wonderful mountains and hiking trails to explore and beautiful scenery. You will find lots of hot springs scattered all over the country and China’s equivalent of Hawaii is the Island of Hainan (about an hour’s flight from Hong Kong), and has nice clean white sandy beaches.