just go to china 香港 · 入境指南

Almost certainly not. Hong Kong runs its own visa system, completely separate from mainland China — a Chinese visa doesn't cover Hong Kong, and Hong Kong entry doesn't get you into the mainland. Around 170 nationalities enter visa-free, for stays of 7 to 180 days depending on passport.

Rough guide: the Netherlands and most of the EU, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea and Singapore get 90 days; the UK gets 180. Business meetings, conferences and trade visits are all fine on ordinary visitor entry.

Quick and painless. Hong Kong stopped stamping passports years ago — you'll be handed a small landing slip showing your permitted stay, so keep it somewhere safe. Have a passport valid a few months beyond your trip and, if asked, an onward or return ticket.

Treat them as two separate countries for entry purposes. Being admitted to Hong Kong does not admit you to the mainland — crossing to Shenzhen is a full border with its own rules (the mainland's 30-day visa-free scheme or a Chinese visa). See section 08, and the Shenzhen file for the mainland side.

Hong Kong International (HKG, Chek Lap Kok) is one of the best-connected airports on earth — direct long-haul from almost everywhere, which is often the reason to route through Hong Kong for the whole region.

• Airport Express train to Hong Kong Station (Central) in about 24 minutes, or Kowloon — fastest, with free shuttle buses onward to many hotels.
• Cityflyer "A" buses — cheaper, more stops, good if your hotel is on the route.
• Taxi to Central is roughly HK$300+. All of these take Octopus.

Easy and common. High-speed rail runs into West Kowloon (from Futian or Shenzhen North in 15–25 minutes), or take the MTR East Rail Line to the Lo Wu / Lok Ma Chau crossings, or a ferry. Full immigration each way (see section 08).

Yes — normally. This is the big difference from across the border: Hong Kong is outside the Great Firewall. Google, Gmail, Maps, WhatsApp, Instagram, X — all of it works with no VPN and no special routing. Your apps behave exactly as they do at home.

Whatever's easiest — a travel eSIM, a local prepaid SIM, or your normal roaming. There's no firewall to engineer around, so the careful "route-outside-China" eSIM logic you need for the mainland simply doesn't apply here. Local SIMs are cheap and sold everywhere.

Three easy options, all widely accepted: the Octopus card, a contactless Visa/Mastercard (just tap), and cash in Hong Kong dollars. Apple/Google Pay and the HK versions of Alipay and WeChat Pay work in plenty of places too. Crucially, Hong Kong is not mobile-pay-only like the mainland — your normal cards work straight off the plane.

Yes, if you're staying more than a day. It's the stored-value card almost every local uses — tap it onto the MTR, buses, trams, the Star Ferry and the Peak Tram, and pay at 7-Eleven, convenience stores and many eateries.

• Tourist Octopus — about HK$39, comes with stored value, non-refundable (keep it as a souvenir).
• Standard card — HK$150, including a HK$100 refundable deposit plus HK$50 of value.
• Mobile Octopus — add it to your phone (Apple Pay / Samsung / Android) and top up in-app.

Reload at any MTR station or 7-Eleven. Buy one the moment you land.

Carry some HK dollars for taxis (many are still cash-only) and small shops. ATMs are everywhere. The Hong Kong dollar is pegged at roughly 7.8 to the US dollar, so the rate barely moves.

World-class, cheap and entirely signed in English. Tap your Octopus or a contactless card in and out at the gates. It reaches almost everywhere you'll want to go, fast.

• Star Ferry across Victoria Harbour — a few dollars and the best skyline view in the city, especially at dusk.
• The trams ("ding dings") trundling along Hong Kong Island — slow, cheap, and a great way to see street life.
• The Peak Tram up to Victoria Peak. All three take Octopus.

Taxis are colour-coded by area — red for urban Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, green for the New Territories, blue for Lantau. Metered and reasonable; many are cash-only, some take Octopus or QR, and tunnels add tolls. Buses and minibuses take Octopus everywhere; the double-deckers are a scenic way to travel.

• Central / Sheung Wan (HK Island) — business, fine dining, upscale, in the thick of it.
• Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) (Kowloon) — harbourfront, shopping, museums, strong value for the location, and the side you photograph the skyline from.
• Causeway Bay / Wan Chai — shopping and nightlife, busy, very well connected.
• Mong Kok — markets, budget hotels, intensely local.

Hong Kong hotels are expensive and small — manage your expectations on room size. Rough nightly rates:

• Budget / 3-star: HK$600–1,000
• Comfortable 4-star: HK$1,200–2,200
• 5-star: HK$2,500+

Book on Trip.com, Booking or Agoda. No mainland-style police registration — the hotel just checks you in.

• Plugs: UK-style Type G three-pin, 220V — different from the mainland, so bring a UK adapter.
• Language: Cantonese and English are both official, and English is very widely spoken — far more than across the border.
• Money: Hong Kong dollars (pegged around 7.8 to the US dollar).
• Tipping: not expected; many restaurants already add a 10% service charge.
• Tap water: meets safety standards and is considered drinkable, though plenty of people still filter or boil out of habit.
• Emergencies: 999 (not the mainland's 110/120/119).
• Weather: subtropical — hot, humid summers with a typhoon season. Watch for a T8 signal, which shuts the whole city down; winters are mild.

• High-speed rail from West Kowloon to Futian or Shenzhen North — 15–25 minutes.
• MTR East Rail Line to the Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau land crossings.
• Ferry, or a 24-hour land crossing at Huanggang.

It's a real border. Leaving Hong Kong and entering the mainland is full immigration both ways, and the mainland has its own entry rules — you'll use the 30-day visa-free scheme or a Chinese visa, not your Hong Kong entry. And the instant you're on the mainland side, the Great Firewall is back on.