# Researching Hong Kong



## SouthernMrs (Mar 4, 2013)

Morning all and thank you in advance for any help you may be able to give me with the following queries. Myself, my husband and our 5 month old baby are coming to Hong Kong a week today for a business trip/holiday for 3 weeks. The aim of the trip is to have a nice holiday so any tips re. good/practical things to do with a 5 month old would be great but in addition to this, the other reason for us going is to see whether we would like to make a more permanent move so I'd be grateful for ideas on the following things that my daughter and I could research whilst hubby is working:

Possible areas to live
Mother and baby/ toddler groups
Good churches
Work/life balance

Thanks very much, look forward to hearing from you.


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## Supernoodles (Feb 4, 2013)

I'm not too sure on the churches and mother & toddler groups but I can suggest the following as very family orientated places to live and visit for the afternoon/day.

Happy valley
Cyberport, bel air 
Sai Kung
Stanley
Discovery Bay
Park Island
Tung Chung

Some of them are very residential and you won't see what is attractive about the place unless you go into the private areas so you would have to view some apartments to properly get a taste of what it is like to live there as a family (i.e Tung chung). 

Work/life balance is totally dependent on the exact situation and personality of the worker! It is a real how long is a piece of string question.


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## fergie (Oct 4, 2010)

Hi,
We lived in Hk for 5 years in Discovery Bay, although our children are grown up with children of their own, I can say that DB is a great place for young families, it is private car free so less polluted than the rest of HK. Mums and young babies tend to form their own 'mother and toddler groups', and any newbies can find out about these and soon find friends. There are plenty of kindergarten 'schools' which children can attend from around 3 yrs old.
Churches in DB tend to be held in schools on a Sunday, there is a Catholic church, and at least one Protestant church-possibly two, and of course St Johns cathedral in the heart of central HK.
There are plenty of restaurants in DB, around 23 or possibly more since I left - mostly with outside sitting areas because the weather is so warm,2 supermarkets, chemists, and lots of other shops in the north and south plaza, and the public transport-buses are frequent.
Places I could suggest to visit, to pass time while your husband works

Stanley Market, plenty of restaurants nearby where you could sit with baby.
HK Disney (on Lantau Island)
Ocean Park Hong Kong which is not far from Central seeing the giant panda's, also red panda's, sea lions and dolphins.

I guess you would be staying in or near Central while you visit this time, so if you visit any places with baby on your own, then I would suggest using a taxi, they are relatively cheap. The MTR which is very good, but can be daunting if you don't know your way around Hk.


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## shaigill (Sep 28, 2011)

Hi all!

Would like to join in on the research expedition.
We (wife, 8, 6, 2 and myself) will be relocating to HK this summer.
The two of us are planning a research trip in a couple of weeks.
First task is zeroing in on a neighborhood to move to. I have seen DB, and had GC recommended. What other areas would you consider?
What else should we research on site?

Thanks

Shai


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## SouthernMrs (Mar 4, 2013)

Thank you so much for your detailed and helpful reply. It is massively appreciated.


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## leonfocus (Mar 9, 2013)

I would say Discovery Bay is a great place for Expats to live. It's very safe and has a very close knit community full of families and kids. The beach is right on your doorstep and never gets too crowded. 

Hong Kong also have a lot of museums, most of them which are free or very cheap entrance fee of HK$10.


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