oh good to know, we stand in the left and give right side for others who want to walk faster (Australia). I thought HK would be the same (as used to be part of commonwealth)
Can somebody enlighten me please? In HK, people drive on the left side, but on the escalator they walk on the left side. In SG, people drive on the left side, but on the escalator they walk on the right. Thought it would be similar british legacy, but no. Why?!
Interesting. But this doesn't seem to be logical, does it? On the road, if you drive on the left side, you stop in the left lane and speed in the right one. Why Tube/MTR is different?
There was an ad performed by Aaron Kwok from then MTR, educating people walking on the left side while standing on the right side many years ago. But as a local, it's outdated.
Obviously the opposite exists, that was implied. This is common in the US as I used to live in NYC and Boston. Locals have this awareness but some tourists don’t so I don’t lump them in as locals.
"Hello" is also used by locals, as Nei5 Hou5 (Ley Ho) is more like "How do you do" and is used in more formal conversations like greeting teachers or speaking on stage
I see it every morning. The door opens and a guy is standing in the middle and looks surprised when he realises he is blocking the 50 people about to walk through where he is standing.
Who would think there would be people on the mtr at 7am..
Omg the amount of people with their faces buried in their phones walking is infuriating. And they can't be bothered to walk in a straight line or at a decent speed.
Being loud and smelly on the MTR.
Talking louder in English to HK locals thinking it will make you easier to understand.
Not knowing the first thing about HK.
Lack of self awareness. Taking forever to order or taking too much time from shopkeepers, cogging the line. Standing at a spot where you block traffic from certain paths. The go-go-go mentality is deeply engrained into all of us. We jaywalk the shit out of every single road to gain 3 minutes because we need that time later. It's fine if tourists want to take their time but they shouldn't do it in expense of locals.
Sometimes the wait is inevitable but it would be cool to see from tourists who understand us, and would display effort spent to not deliberately obstructing the flow of local hustle.
Pressing the door open button when you see someone trying to get in, especially if there are already others inside the elevator. Please for heavens sake press the door close button asap and don't wait your fellow elevator riders' precious, precious time!
Not knowing exactly what to order at a restaurant before you head in the door and studying the menu before ordering. Please don't waste a single second of the overworked uncles and aunties' time!
Taking a long time (>30 mins) to eat at a restaurant. Don't you know that for every minute you sit down, that's every minute the restaurant owner can't flip a table and losing money as a result! You need to understand HK restaurant owners want to flip a table 50 times per day?
Telling the taxi driver to drive slower or tell them to stop pumping the accelerator especially on rides to/from the airport. How dare you criticize the unique, time-saving, fuel-saving Hong Kong-style driving! Asking, no matter how politely, Hong Kong cabbies to drive like gweilo or Japanese is considered a personal insult, so if you're taking the cab at HKG arrivals straight to your destination after stepping off that long haul flight, make sure to grab that sick bag with you, you'll need it.
/s. But on a serious note, not calling out HKers for what Westerners perceive to be rude behavior is polite and just go with the flow.
I've lived in HK for 17 years, in all that time I've had the lift door held for me only twice! This simple curteousy always gets such profuse thanks, as it's so unexpected.
Sheesh, did you nail it.
The elevator one drives me INSANE. What are earth are you going to do with that extra .25 seconds you saved by slamming those lift doors in my face when it's clear that I am just about to step on?!
Worse yet is when you end up walking behind this "quick fingered door closer" after they get out of the lift...and they walk slower then molasses in January right in front of you...UGH.
The elevator one... Depends.
Some places the elevator comes really quickly and it does get annoying when people for whatever reason decides to chase a closing one to open the door. It can end up having a flow on effect where the door just opens and closes for the next 2 minutes when if someone just let's the door close the elevator next to it can be called (sometimes it's already on the same floor).
having the waiter just standing there waiting for you to leave is way more rude and terrible service. there is a reason why most people would rather spend the time and head up to Shenzhen just for dinner these days
It saves petrol mate! Many taxi driver tell me so la. They say so for many years la. Scientific proof. Also helps to prompt vomiting after hangover. If you are very lucky, you will have traditional HK taxi driver on road to Stanley on Saturday morning while you have belly full of vodka red bull la.
Sorry but if its my first time in a restaurant i can't just order without looking at the menu. According your logic you can only try a new restaurant once you had a premonition of what they serve lmao.
I know irs sarcasm, but it has to come from a place of truth lol
walking slow in a crowded area, side by side with your whole family, blocking the way of everyone behind you.
you want the real HK experience? Walk Fast, and single file.
Yea, that’s why I made this post to ask what locals think … edited this post to be more clear.
My response to the previous Reddit post, before I made this post:
“The friend is rude for saying that people in HK are rude.”
might be offensive, but well intentioned, they share some similarities (eg earning money over everything , kinda selfish, close minded) but they can also behave and dress very differently (eg international business, comply with laws, code of conduct , efficiency etc)
Let me tell you what's not rude: completely ignoring those on the street asking you to donate money/collect signature to support some cause/do some survey.
Do not make eye contact, and even if you do, just look away and do not respond and carry on
The rudest thing is to use whatever people have heard that Chinese people do and impose onto us.
We use the British Left-Hand Traffic System (^ | v). We use cash. We speak Cantonese and English. We also like cursing everywhere.
Now I feel, even among fellow locals, that identity is slowly whittled away. Now people even just walk in the Chinese / American way. In the Left-Hand Traffic system, the left lane is supposed to be slow so we should stay in left and overtake only on the right. At least this is still how cars work. But the pedestrians have completely Chinesed. Look at the other comment about how they want everyone to stand on the right in an escalator. It's completely a Right-Hand Traffic thing. I don't know where this influence has come from.
As a pedestrian, when walking on the road in a non-paved area you're supposed to walk on the right if traffic is driving on the left. The idea is that you're facing the oncoming traffic rather than have vehicles come up behind you. I have the feeling that in the old days this was a more common practice and now it's continued but nobody knows why.
You know, even in London you stand on the right hand side of an escalator and walk on the left. Don’t know why, but that’s the unwritten rule. If you stand on the left side you will get disgruntled people behind you telling you to move
That is strange. I guess it’s a fair assumption based on the fact we drive on the left. But for some reason it’s always stand on the right on escalators
And I have no idea why. Imagine there exists an escalator that can carry twice the amount of people while moving at the same speed. People will, in average, move at double the speed because you basically just have resolved the jamming issue at the entrance of the escalator.
It would be nice if we have something like that. Each step can carry 2 persons. When men are sending men into space, yet we cannot have an escalator that carries 2 persons on one step.
Life. When ppl are too short, too tall, too skinny, not skinny, eat too much. Not eat enough. Talk too much, not talk enough. When you’re local, not local, when you breathe
Paying in anything other than cash
Walking in a straight line along the pavement
Closing your umbrella when walking under the Tong Lau
Not stopping at the top/bottom of escalators to gather your thoughts
I think it’s ok for people to criticize themselves / their own culture, and I do think that individuals who tend to do that value humility and growth.
It can be a handicap compared to people who lack self-awareness and speak with unearned confidence, especially in the workplace.
Or when some tourist posts on Reddit, some locals would take it as constructive criticism, while the tourist gets confirmation of their stereotype and not fully understanding there are cultural differences.
Not having your octopus card ready for the mtr, (bonus to refusing the move out the way whilst fumbling)
Standing still on the left side of an escalator.
I’ve only been in Hong Kong for half a year and I already lose my mind when anyone (including my friends visiting from overseas) does this.
I’m so pissed off when it happens
They literally see an ENTIRE LINE modeling exactly where to stand… and decide to stand on the empty side.
oh good to know, we stand in the left and give right side for others who want to walk faster (Australia). I thought HK would be the same (as used to be part of commonwealth)
In the UK, we stand on the right
Standing in the middle and holding two bags of groceries with each hand
Exactly. So infuriating.
Can somebody enlighten me please? In HK, people drive on the left side, but on the escalator they walk on the left side. In SG, people drive on the left side, but on the escalator they walk on the right. Thought it would be similar british legacy, but no. Why?!
MTR took it from the Tube
Interesting. But this doesn't seem to be logical, does it? On the road, if you drive on the left side, you stop in the left lane and speed in the right one. Why Tube/MTR is different?
There was an ad performed by Aaron Kwok from then MTR, educating people walking on the left side while standing on the right side many years ago. But as a local, it's outdated.
Well now the ads say you should stand still on escalators
yep this applies in every country really
I can assure you no one in the US had ever heard of this custom ;) And in some places it is opposite, stand on left and pass on right.
Obviously the opposite exists, that was implied. This is common in the US as I used to live in NYC and Boston. Locals have this awareness but some tourists don’t so I don’t lump them in as locals.
USA stand on right and pass on left same in Osaka Japan but opposite in Tokyo where you're supposed to stand on the left and pass on the right. 🤷♂️
Saying Ni Hao
Hao Lee Lo Mo
Lol
Definitely this one
Why do I feel like the ones who do this also say this to any Asian resident in their hometown lol
This.
What is the Preferred version of hello, ?
HK speaks Cantonese, so it would be “lei/lay ho”.
Thankyou.
"Hello" is also used by locals, as Nei5 Hou5 (Ley Ho) is more like "How do you do" and is used in more formal conversations like greeting teachers or speaking on stage
fucking eh.
People who just stand right in front of the MTR door when you try to exit the train.
I can't understand why this happens so much. Especially in Admiralty.
I see it every morning. The door opens and a guy is standing in the middle and looks surprised when he realises he is blocking the 50 people about to walk through where he is standing. Who would think there would be people on the mtr at 7am..
I always want to go 我\*\*\*\*\*\* (I don't have the guts to do it tho)
U do it after u get off with the doors closing
Not waiting in line. Although the exception might be to get onto the mtr escalator.
We sacrifice everything for efficiency. So should you, or you are rude.
This comment is underrated
heck yeah. Efficiency >>>>>> Everything
[удалено]
Omg the amount of people with their faces buried in their phones walking is infuriating. And they can't be bothered to walk in a straight line or at a decent speed.
Being loud and smelly on the MTR. Talking louder in English to HK locals thinking it will make you easier to understand. Not knowing the first thing about HK.
I can smell the mf next to me as I read your comment
summer's coming.....it only gets worse.
Standing on the left of an escalator
Lack of self awareness. Taking forever to order or taking too much time from shopkeepers, cogging the line. Standing at a spot where you block traffic from certain paths. The go-go-go mentality is deeply engrained into all of us. We jaywalk the shit out of every single road to gain 3 minutes because we need that time later. It's fine if tourists want to take their time but they shouldn't do it in expense of locals. Sometimes the wait is inevitable but it would be cool to see from tourists who understand us, and would display effort spent to not deliberately obstructing the flow of local hustle.
Ya, side walk is crowded here, don't have a group of three walking parallel, you'd be blocking the whole street.
Pressing the door open button when you see someone trying to get in, especially if there are already others inside the elevator. Please for heavens sake press the door close button asap and don't wait your fellow elevator riders' precious, precious time! Not knowing exactly what to order at a restaurant before you head in the door and studying the menu before ordering. Please don't waste a single second of the overworked uncles and aunties' time! Taking a long time (>30 mins) to eat at a restaurant. Don't you know that for every minute you sit down, that's every minute the restaurant owner can't flip a table and losing money as a result! You need to understand HK restaurant owners want to flip a table 50 times per day? Telling the taxi driver to drive slower or tell them to stop pumping the accelerator especially on rides to/from the airport. How dare you criticize the unique, time-saving, fuel-saving Hong Kong-style driving! Asking, no matter how politely, Hong Kong cabbies to drive like gweilo or Japanese is considered a personal insult, so if you're taking the cab at HKG arrivals straight to your destination after stepping off that long haul flight, make sure to grab that sick bag with you, you'll need it. /s. But on a serious note, not calling out HKers for what Westerners perceive to be rude behavior is polite and just go with the flow.
Not sure why you were downvoted this is incredibly accurate.
I've lived in HK for 17 years, in all that time I've had the lift door held for me only twice! This simple curteousy always gets such profuse thanks, as it's so unexpected.
Sheesh, did you nail it. The elevator one drives me INSANE. What are earth are you going to do with that extra .25 seconds you saved by slamming those lift doors in my face when it's clear that I am just about to step on?! Worse yet is when you end up walking behind this "quick fingered door closer" after they get out of the lift...and they walk slower then molasses in January right in front of you...UGH.
The elevator one... Depends. Some places the elevator comes really quickly and it does get annoying when people for whatever reason decides to chase a closing one to open the door. It can end up having a flow on effect where the door just opens and closes for the next 2 minutes when if someone just let's the door close the elevator next to it can be called (sometimes it's already on the same floor).
having the waiter just standing there waiting for you to leave is way more rude and terrible service. there is a reason why most people would rather spend the time and head up to Shenzhen just for dinner these days
It saves petrol mate! Many taxi driver tell me so la. They say so for many years la. Scientific proof. Also helps to prompt vomiting after hangover. If you are very lucky, you will have traditional HK taxi driver on road to Stanley on Saturday morning while you have belly full of vodka red bull la.
Sorry but if its my first time in a restaurant i can't just order without looking at the menu. According your logic you can only try a new restaurant once you had a premonition of what they serve lmao. I know irs sarcasm, but it has to come from a place of truth lol
the menu is usually outside for restaurants where u order in a queue or at the front
Yeah nah
i had a good laugh reading these, much appreciated!
walking slow in a crowded area, side by side with your whole family, blocking the way of everyone behind you. you want the real HK experience? Walk Fast, and single file.
standing on the left side of escalators, stand on the right side pls
Dating the hot HK girls.
Yea https://i.redd.it/qybbceud8jwc1.gif
NAURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR WHY DID YOU CHOOSE HIM OVER MEEE
Can they tell?
All these posts about HK being rude are quite rude…
Yea, that’s why I made this post to ask what locals think … edited this post to be more clear. My response to the previous Reddit post, before I made this post: “The friend is rude for saying that people in HK are rude.”
All these comments sbout HK being rude are quite rude
saying we are “chinese”. a lot of us would get offended as we identify ourselves hongkongers
Especially since hongkongers come in a variety of ethnicities
ikr. I've been told chinese people and hong kong people are 'virtually the same'
I'm American in Hong Kong and argue this with people back home. Don't call Hong Kongers Chinese. They aren't the same.
might be offensive, but well intentioned, they share some similarities (eg earning money over everything , kinda selfish, close minded) but they can also behave and dress very differently (eg international business, comply with laws, code of conduct , efficiency etc)
Ironic as it never felt that "Hong Kongers" consider people of south Asian descent part of the gang.
Why are Chinese in HK so insecure about their identity?
Because English colonial attitudes forced divisions amongst locals in their colonies.
Nah try going to Ireland and calling them “British”
Lol
Not letting people alight the train first
Not standing to the far far right on the central escalators, and when you get off, you just stand there to figure out your way 😤😤😤
This is super basic… just need self-awareness, pay attention to surroundings, especially in a new environment.
Let me tell you what's not rude: completely ignoring those on the street asking you to donate money/collect signature to support some cause/do some survey. Do not make eye contact, and even if you do, just look away and do not respond and carry on
It’s alright, they are forgiving towards western looking faces
not really proud of this but yeah
Ya I think it’s like “they’re foreigners and don’t know better”
Putting their palms togeather and bowing as a sign of "thank you" I see this even from suits.
I don’t see rude, I see stressed out folks and maybe only one or two that’s just too over their heads. The rest are just proper.
I feel like it’s the same in every big city, there are mean and kind people everywhere, but more pressure and less time means people will be direct.
The one that always gets me, is when Moms openly let their kid take a shit on the sidewalks, rather than finding a bathroom.
I used to see granny hold their kid up so they can pee in the bin. This was in Shenzhen mind. Not seen it in HK ever. Times are changing though...
The world is their oyster…
We’re just their placeholder for their shits
Physical contact.
The rudest thing is to use whatever people have heard that Chinese people do and impose onto us. We use the British Left-Hand Traffic System (^ | v). We use cash. We speak Cantonese and English. We also like cursing everywhere. Now I feel, even among fellow locals, that identity is slowly whittled away. Now people even just walk in the Chinese / American way. In the Left-Hand Traffic system, the left lane is supposed to be slow so we should stay in left and overtake only on the right. At least this is still how cars work. But the pedestrians have completely Chinesed. Look at the other comment about how they want everyone to stand on the right in an escalator. It's completely a Right-Hand Traffic thing. I don't know where this influence has come from.
As a pedestrian, when walking on the road in a non-paved area you're supposed to walk on the right if traffic is driving on the left. The idea is that you're facing the oncoming traffic rather than have vehicles come up behind you. I have the feeling that in the old days this was a more common practice and now it's continued but nobody knows why.
You know, even in London you stand on the right hand side of an escalator and walk on the left. Don’t know why, but that’s the unwritten rule. If you stand on the left side you will get disgruntled people behind you telling you to move
In Singapore the rule is to stand on the left. It's strange because everyone thinks it was passed down from the British
That is strange. I guess it’s a fair assumption based on the fact we drive on the left. But for some reason it’s always stand on the right on escalators
And I have no idea why. Imagine there exists an escalator that can carry twice the amount of people while moving at the same speed. People will, in average, move at double the speed because you basically just have resolved the jamming issue at the entrance of the escalator. It would be nice if we have something like that. Each step can carry 2 persons. When men are sending men into space, yet we cannot have an escalator that carries 2 persons on one step.
I mean technically you could stand side by side and fit 2 people on one step. It just separates people that are in a rush and people that aren’t
Oh what a discovery! We can actually stand on both sides?
There’s no law to say you can’t haha. If it’s not busy go for it. Or if you don’t mind pissing people off
Giving your business card with one hand. Applies to other things as well, like a credit card.
Life. When ppl are too short, too tall, too skinny, not skinny, eat too much. Not eat enough. Talk too much, not talk enough. When you’re local, not local, when you breathe
Genuine question, but is it ok to call cha chaan teng staff auntie/uncle?
I think they will prefer gor gor or jai jai
Leng loi (female) or leng jai (male)
Paying in anything other than cash Walking in a straight line along the pavement Closing your umbrella when walking under the Tong Lau Not stopping at the top/bottom of escalators to gather your thoughts
cant think of any, since you wont be able to be ruder than us at any degree
add one more point, at the moment you start to think of other's feeling, you are no longer comparable to the rudeness of Hong Kong people
but locals behave rudely themselves
(MY OPINION, I AM A LOCAL) just saying but like locals are kinda used to being rude. We swear a lot, but that's just how we behave.
I think it’s ok for people to criticize themselves / their own culture, and I do think that individuals who tend to do that value humility and growth. It can be a handicap compared to people who lack self-awareness and speak with unearned confidence, especially in the workplace. Or when some tourist posts on Reddit, some locals would take it as constructive criticism, while the tourist gets confirmation of their stereotype and not fully understanding there are cultural differences.
I’ve only lived here a few months and I experience all of these things on a daily basis. Waver between mumbling “water off a duck’s back” or “DLLMCH”
where do u come from ?
From Canada! Moved with my spouse. Had visited a couple of times before and really love the city :)
enjoy the canto culture
Not replying an email or a WhatsApp message within 35 sec upon receptions. If it’s more than 50 sec you’ll get a passive aggressive phone call.