Hong Kong Shopping
Hong Kong is known as a shoppers paradise, right or wrong. You can find information here that will help you get the most from your shopping dollar.
Food Is All in Hong Kong
I recently attended the Hong Kong Food Expo at the Convention Center.
My wife, Pam, and I intended to go on Sunday afternoon, thinking it would be a pleasant way of killing a rainy PM, snacking our way around the hundreds of exhibitor booths.
WRONG! The crush to get anywhere near the entrance was such that we decided to hit the nearby Pacific Coffee outlet and have a light lunch.
The next day, which was the last day of the Expo, I decided to see what all the excitement was about. I figured since it was Monday and the last day the crowds would have diminshed considerably.
Date: August 23rd, 2006 |
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Hong Kong’s Very Own World Cup - Shopping
The Hong Kong Tourism Board announced a two month Shopping Festival in an attempt to lure tourists who are not caught up in World Cup fever.
There has never been any doubt that Hong Kong people are World Class shoppers. I guess that now they will have some competition from tourists lured here by the opportunity to spend HK$300.00 in order to be eligible to win one of 113 prizes totally worth about HK$2.7 million.
Happy Shoppers Celebrating Maxing Out their Credit Cards!
Date: June 12th, 2006 |
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Hong Kong Versus Singapore - Shopping and Eating.
Number three in a continuing series.
Shopping
Hong Kong has a reputation as a shopper’s paradise. I’m not so sure that is still true. The Designer outlets in Hong Kong are as expensive as they are anywhere else I’ve been. The electronics and camera stores offer no real bargains and, especially in Tsim Sha Tsui, are likely to try and rip you off. I buy my electronics at “Fortress” or “Broadway,” two local chains. I buy my camera equipment in the U.S. or on-line.
Date: June 4th, 2006 |
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Hong Kong’s Annual Flower Show
This surprisingly interesting event is held every year in Victoria Park. I’ve been a couple times and it’s even fascinating for non-gardeners like me. If you are in town or arriving in the next week or so, I suggest dropping by.
Flower Show Poster
This year’s theme is “Enchanting Beauty.” The featured flower is the bright white and red Dianthus. In addition to flowers, the show features potted plants, floral arrangements and landscape displays. There’s lots of stuff for sale. It runs from today, March 3rd through Sunday, March …
Date: March 3rd, 2006 |
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Flexible Pricing in Hong Kong
One of the local Beauty Shop chains, Modern Beauty Salon Holdings, was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday. After opening it fell 20% before a small recovery to -10%. Evidently the company’s listing information was inaccurate in the area of customer complaints. They said 200+ complaints for the last year and the actual was 300+. They also said that a fair piece of their profit would come from unclaimed pre-sold services. This was interesting to investors because undelivered pre-sold services were the cause of many of the complaints.
In Hong Kong it’s “Caveat Emptor” and there are many examples of how the system works.
Date: February 10th, 2006 |
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Shopping and Pollution in Hong Kong
At the risk of sounding less than humble, I noticed in today’s South China Morning Post that there has been verification of what I wrote in two of my recent postings.
One headline stated, “Hong Kong the world champion at sport of shopping.” The article went on to point out that an ACNielson study found Hong Kong had the highest concentration of “recreational shoppers,” those who shop for entertainment rather than necessities. The percentage is an astounding 93%, tied with Indonesia for highest in Asia. The regional average was 84% compared with 68% in the U.S. As I said in my recent posting Hong Kong people would run away with a Shopping World Cup.
As a member of the 7% minority I am at a loss to understand why this is true. Perhaps some of you readers have an idea or two. Maybe people just want to get indoors and away from the air pollution.
Date: June 16th, 2006 |
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Hong Kong Versus Singapore - Getting Around and Getting Along
Fourth in a continuing series.
There are just a few other comparisons between the two places that need to be made. One is the ease with which people can move around the city. Singapore has wide streets that make walking a pleasure. Hong Kong’s streets, on the other hand, are usually narrow and overcrowded. Strolling is difficult in the built up areas. It also seems as if the sidewalks and streets are constantly being torn up.
Tree Lined Lane in Singapore’s Chinatown
Date: June 8th, 2006 |
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Budget Tours That Cost too Much.
Evidently tourism authorities are worried that budget tour operators are ruining Hong Kong’s reputation as a desirable destination.
The prices of many tours, especially from the mainland, are less than the actual cost to the tour operator. So how does the tour operator make any money: by insuring that visitors spend a good part of their holiday time shopping in establishments that pay the operator a commission. Some of these commissions run as high as 50%, which indicates the buyers of such products are not getting a decent value.
In the past, there have been stories of customers not being allowed to leave the shop until they bought something. I believe that practice has disappeared and been replaced with an itinerary that takes people to shop after shop after shop until they buy something.
Date: May 15th, 2006 |
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Trying to Kill the Goose That Laid the Golden Egg
In a, hard to believe, sensible decision, the Hong Kong Government agreed to allow the Wanchai Street Market to continue operating, although in a reduced form, and to pay compensation to those stallholders who do not choose to move to the new cement palace being built to house the Wanchai wet market and shops. Yesterday, the Government had announced that it was going to force all the stall holders to move into the cement palace. That decision created fast and furious protests.
As I pointed out in a previous semi-rant, “Noodling Over Noodles,” the government does not seem …
Date: February 25th, 2006 |
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A Different Perspective On the Cost of Living in Hong Kong.
This is my week to realize how easy it is to make certain assumptions that, if not wrong, need at least to be balanced by other viewpoints. I received the following comments from Hamlet Lin which put a different perspective on some of my previous comments about the cost of living in Hong Kong.
Our brief exchange follows.
Date: February 9th, 2006 |
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