European Guide to China and Hong Kong
It's normal to see some one hawk one up and spit both men and women do it
Slurping your food when eating is a sign of enjoyment.
When pouring tea you should pour yourself last
When eating at the table wait till the eldest guest eats
When arriving from Europe into Hong Kong/China your jet lag will really kick in, its best to use a stimulants like red bull, coke cola etc to keep awake till the actual night time in the new time zone, then take a sleeping draft to force sleep when its night time, after about three days you will get into the rhythm of the time zone, the more you fight it the more your trip will be spoiled.
Make sure you can use chopsticks reasonably well otherwise your not going to enjoy the lovely Chinese food as forks are quite scarce.
Also the food in china and Hong Kong is Chinese food, if you looking for European foods there is the odd MacDonald's
If you're not prepared to embrace the Chinese culture don't go to Asia.
In southern china its very humid and chafing can occur... be prepared...
Mosquitoes are in abundance take a bug spray and make sure you have had your jabs before you leave.
In Hong Kong a lot of English is spoken, in China not so much, Mandarin and Cantonese are difficult languages to speak due to the falling and rising tones, if you are going to eat somewhere, eat where there are pictures of the food they sell then you can at least point to what you want, things are written on both English and Chinese in Hong Kong, not so mush in mainland China.
If you go into China from anywhere you need a visa for every time you visit i.e. if you intend to go in and then come back out and wish to enter again you need a double entry visa http://www.cibt.com are very good and secure also every care is taken with you important document so that they do not get lost.
The currency in Hong Kong is Hong Kong Dollars
The currency in mainland China is Remenbi aka Quan pronounced kwan
Good phrases to lean in Cantonese are (say like read)
| English | Chinese |
| Morning | Jo San |
| Hello | Lay ho ma |
| Thank you your service | umm goy |
| no thank you | umm soy |
| Thank you for the gift | Do chey |
| I'm fine | ho ho |
| Have you eaten yet | sik jor farn mei |
| Tasty | ho sik |
| The bill | mai darn |
