7 Big Differences Between Hong Kong and Mainland China

7 Big Differences Between Hong Kong and Mainland China
Oct 24, 2017 By Niklas Westerlund , eChinacities.com

Hong Kong has been the natural gateway to China for as long as anyone can remember. While China went through a rather turbulent 20th century, Hong Kong became one of the most important trading hubs in Asia and the world. Although mainland China has now caught up with its little brother in many ways, the differences are still apparent and can be summarized by the following quote: “Both wore Prada high-heel shoes. But only one knew how to walk in them.” We've all been there!

 
Source: Niklas Westerlund

Let’s have a look at seven differences between Hong Kong and mainland China:

The Climate

Naturally, this will depend on where you’re coming from in mainland China. Someone coming to Hong Kong from Harbin will probably melt on arrival, while someone coming from Shenzhen won’t even notice the difference. For good ol’ Beijingers, the clean air and humidity will be both a blessing and a curse. For those with a propensity for heavy perspiration - ready your cotton napkins; pretty much anytime other than December and January you’ll have sweat dripping down your face within five minutes of walking alfresco.

The English

Going from a place where the English proficiency level is less than one percent to a place where it’s over 45 percent is a huge gear shift. Pretty much everything in HK is bilingual, and communicating with taxi drivers and cashiers at 7-11 is a dream. It’s comfortable for sure, but without an incentive to learn the local language (Cantonese), expats in Hong Kong tend to stick with English and therefore miss a great opportunity to truly immerse themselves in the local culture.

The Foreigners

If you’ve ever visited a tourist attraction in mainland China you’ll have noticed that the biggest groups of tourists is in fact just other mainlanders. International tourists in China make up just a fraction of the total. In Hong Kong, however, you can’t go anywhere without seeing just about every nationality and ethnicity. As “Asia’s World City” Hong Kong is truly cosmopolitan. It can be exhausting at times, but the good thing is, no matter where you’re from you never feel like the odd one out.

The Manners

Okay, we know. Mainlanders get a lot of heat for their manners, or supposed lack thereof. Some of it is unfounded, but some of it is unfortunately true. The contrast in manners and etiquette, coming from Beijing (a city that is famously polite by mainland standards but where public spitting is commonplace) to Hong Kong, is quite apparent. Being a former British colony, Hongkongers seem to have adopted the best (and worst) traits of their former rulers.

Despite the efforts of the MTR Corporation, which constantly urges commuters to “stand firm and don’t walk”, time-rich Hongkongers uniformly stand to the right on packed escalators, allowing those in a rush to have free passage on the left. You might even see someone get off a subway car, only to let other people out before they get back in again. Just imagine!

But politeness does not necessarily go hand-in-hand with friendliness. While mainlanders can be amazingly friendly (even though they belch), Hong Kongers may apologize for stepping on your foot, but your chances of getting one to crack a smile are slim.

The Pets

Perhaps unsurprisingly, pets, especially cats and dogs, are loved in both places. What is surprising is the stray dogs in Hong Kong or, rather, the lack of them. You’d be hard-pressed to find one homeless hound on Hong Kong Island, whereas there are still gangs of them roaming the Beijing hutongs. Pampered dogs, with their cute outfits and their quaffed hair, are king in both territories, but the difference lies elsewhere. If your dog poops on the pavement in Hong Kong, you pick it up. Full stop. People even carry squirty water bottles to rinse away their dog’s wee! In mainland China, it’s, shall we say, less strict in this regard.

The Infrastructure

Hong Kong’s infrastructure is largely old, as demonstrated by the skyline which seems to have been left unchanged since the 80s. But everything is well-kept and surprisingly clean. Using elevators won’t emotionally scar you for life, and the only reason to walk around with your pockets stuffed with napkins is to wipe the sweat from your face -  toilets here come equipped with toilet paper (and doors). Getting napkins in restaurants is a whole other story though. You often have to pay!

Taxis and the subway are more expensive than in mainland China, although still ridiculously cheap compared to most Western countries. If you want to travel for next to nothing, take the ferries and the trams, which are between 3.7 and 2.3 HKD each. Transportation doesn’t get much slower than this, but they’re quite the experience, post-colonial vibes notwithstanding.

One trick missed in Hong Kong, however: the longest (series) of outdoor escalators in the world will have you ride all the way to the top for the joy of it, only to realize you have to walk all the way down again by yourself. The scandal!

The Food

Hong Kong is home to some of the most exquisite and expensive restaurants in the world. If you’re a foodie with a big wallet, you’re in heaven. For us mere mortals, though, the food is just okay. Don’t expect to find 5 RMB pancakes or 2 RMB dumplings from your local street food stall. The street food in Hong Kong is indeed pretty lacking, but there are a couple of gems with slightly Western twists.

The good thing: Portuguese egg tarts and bread in general won’t cost as much as they do at 味多美, Wèiduōměi. The bad thing: if you’ve become accustomed to cheap and tasty mainland food, you’re fresh out of luck. Pretty much all the cheap eats here are Cantonese, arguably the most boring Chinese cuisine of the bunch. Yes, we went there!

Much more can be written about the differences between Hong Kong and mainland China. Did we miss something? Let us know in the comments below.

Warning:The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.

Keywords: Hong Kong Vs China Hong Kong China differences

7 Comments

All comments are subject to moderation by eChinacities.com staff. Because we wish to encourage healthy and productive dialogue we ask that all comments remain polite, free of profanity or name calling, and relevant to the original post and subsequent discussion. Comments will not be deleted because of the viewpoints they express, only if the mode of expression itself is inappropriate.

rar

i have found that hongers are not friendly unless they have something to gain. mainlanders from the countryside are generally friendlier than hongers, and taiwanese combined, and they are more genuine about it. i always feel suspicious about the hongers and taiwanese. whats also disturbing is how hongers worship the west, and very few hongers are proud to be chinese, but you will find that mainlanders have more pride in who they are, and there are much fewer mainlanders who worship the west. mainlanders also seem less greedy, and selfish, or as the chinese say (xianshi). its funny how hongers, and taiwanese blame the mainland for "destroying chinese culture" during the cultral revalution, but the hongers and taiwanese have destroyed chinese culture even more, and they are actually less chinese, and trying way too hard to be foreign, all while removing chinese culture from their daily lives. the one thing that i cant deny hong kong is better than the mainland at is that there are less security check points.

Jan 14, 2018 13:46 Report Abuse

Mateusz

Mainlanders can be amazingly friendly... they just typically aren't. I keep hearing Chinese brag about their supposed friendliness, but haven't seen it in person.

Oct 28, 2017 10:34 Report Abuse

Elizabeth_Bass

Interesting

Oct 28, 2017 02:51 Report Abuse

idekalbermatten

I liked your article

Oct 25, 2017 08:58 Report Abuse

Nikwestside

I like your comment.

Oct 26, 2017 14:05 Report Abuse

RobRocks

people obey the rules,smoking,driving in Hong Kong

Oct 25, 2017 07:58 Report Abuse

Spiderboenz

No, sorry. Mainlanders are actually not friendly (overall) unless they can benefit from it in some way.

Oct 25, 2017 05:27 Report Abuse