Entries from August 2007 ↓

If you want to rent an apartment for days, or weeks in Hong Kong, it isn’t too easy. For one thing, you are usually asked to rent for at least a month. And do prepare for the high rent. Hong Kong’s rent, just like its property price, is very high.

There are only few choices for short-term apartment rental in Hong Kong, as you may have guessed. It is probably because the property price is so high that most people can only afford to buy one property to live in. For those who can afford to have a spare property for lease, they would rather lease it to local residents on a yearly contract.

Well, you can still find short-term apartments for just a few days or weeks, though the choice is limited. The daily rate ranges from HK$350 to HK$2,000.

For those on the budget, check out rent a room. This company’s self-contained room-apartments offer a range of price (from about HK$400 for 1 person to about HK$1000 for 4 persons per day) to choose from. Its location in Jordan, Kowloon, is convenient. But do expect the apartment is small and pretty basic with little decoration.

You can also check out this site for a higher end market. Most of them are for month-long rent only. But there are few that you can rent on a per-day basis for up to HK$1,300 a day. This site offers daily-pakcage of serviced apartment at about HK$1600 in prime areas of Hong Kong.

If you plan to stay in HK for a month, the choice is a lot wider. Hang Lung Properties, a Hong Kong main developer, offers three locations of serviced apartments on a monthly rental basis. All apartemtns are conveniently located and nicely decorated. You can choose from its apartments of different sizes, facilities and prices. Other choices (most of them expensive choices) include Apartment Kapok, V Serviced Apartments (looks stylish), Bauhina, Circle Apartment (One in Wanchai, one in Happy Valley), Eaton House (very expensive), Shama (looks stylish), 88 (luxury!) and 153&163 (looks like a typical HK ordinary home).

Do you know that as a foreigner in China, it is very easy for you to open a bank account? If you want to travel to China, especially for quite some time, you may need to carry not a small amount of money. Then you should consider opening a bank account in China so that you can deposit and withdraw money whenever and wherever you want. You don’t need to always carry a large stack of bank notes or traveler checks.

Just go to any branch of the big banks and show your passport and China visa, fill out some forms, and you will have a China bank account.

You will be issued a bank passbook when you open the bank account. If you want a bank card to withdraw money, which you should do, you can have one upon payment of 10RMB (with Bank of China). And you will be given a pin number for accessing your account with the card.

In other words, it is free to open a bank account in China. But if you want to have a bank card to use the ATM machine, you will have to pay RMB10 or so.

However, beware of the traps and tricks. Say, if you open a bank account with Bank of China in Guangdong province, it is perfectly free for you to deposit or withdraw money inside the province. However, if you want to use an ATM machine of Bank of China in another province, each time you will need to pay 10RMB. If you deposit money over the bank counter, you will need to pay a higher charge of 40RMB or so.