Insider's HONG KONG Travel Guide » Hong Kong Money Matters

Hong Kong Currency

admin — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:08:39 +0000

Hong Kong currency denominations are HK$1000, HK$500, HK$100, HK$50, HK$20, HK$10 ( Notes ) & HK$10, HK$5, HK$2, HK$1, 50cents, 20cents, 10cents ( Coins ). Hong Kong currency is pronouned as “Yuen”

Please note that Hong Kong currecy in large denomination like HK$1000 notes are not very welcome by most of the smaller retailers due to the counterfeit problem. Do look out for signs at cashier or enquire from the retail store staff if they accept the $1000 notes.

Just to give you a rough guideline about expenditure on eating in Hong Kong. A McDonald’s BIG MAC MEAL ( with drinks & french fries ) costs around HK$25. A normal meal in any noodle shop or local coffee house will cost you about HK$ 30 per meal.

Hong Kong Customs put no restrictions on how much Hong Kong currency bringing in and/or take out of Hong Kong.

If you have any coins ( HK$ ) , you will probably realize that they are pretty heavy. My wife and I are always trying to “get rid of” our coins – Spend them of course !!

As for purchasing of goods in Hong Kong, we would prefer to use credit card as much as possible.

ATM

admin — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:00:42 +0000

Hong Kong has the one of the best banking systems in Asia. Withdrawing cash ( HK$ ) from an Automatic Teller Machine is like a breeze. All of the ATM machines in Hong Kong support Visa, Master, Cirrus, Plus and therefore it will not be any issue if you need to withdraw some urgent cash in hand.

However, I personally would not encourage you to withdraw HK dollars from the ATM machines unless it is necessary as the service fee can be quite expensive and you tend to get a lousy currency conversion rate.

Tipping in Hong Kong

admin — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:00:51 +0000

Most restaurants have incorporated a 10% service charge in your bill.

I think it is a good gesture to encourage better services by tipping the waiter or waitress if the service is good. In the local context, a waiter will only expect a small tipping (about HK$10). For your information, a cup of coffee in the local tea or coffee house (not Starbucks of course) will cost around HK$8-10.

Hotel bellboys and taxi drivers will be more than happy to take these loose change as tips.

E-Wallet … Octopus

admin — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:08:16 +0000

This is something you must have when you are traveling to Hong Kong. Octopus card is an electronic wallet with stored value, mainly used for payment in the public transport system. The use of Octopus card has now extended its reach to restaurants, vending machines, cinemas and even 24hrs convenient stores.

This card has an electronic microchip embedded inside and uses contactless technology, which is extremely convenient. I don’t even need to take out my wallet. All I need to do is to put my whole wallet on top of the sensor and I am done paying for my purchases!!

It can be purchased at the control office of any MTR ( Mass Transit Railway ) stations. There is also a refundable deposit of HK$50 upon the purchase of the Octopus card.