Costs

Ex-pats just ranked Hong Kong as the most expensive city in the world in regards to rental prices. The second most expensive renter’s market is Moscow, then NYC, Tokyo and London.

In Hong Kong, it costs upward of $10,000USD per month to rent a three bedroom flat in a nice part of town. One more reason to live on Lamma Island! Aaron and I pay $775 USD per month for our three bedroom flat.

I was also reading today in The Standard that a cleaning position in Hong Kong should land less than $700USD per month. So like anywhere else in the world, the wealth gap in Hong Kong is pretty extreme. I guess it’s particularly interesting in Hong Kong, with a total land area of 415 square miles. New York City equals 11,842 square miles. The real zinger is that Hong Kong’s land make-up includes 75% open countryside. Central Park can’t touch that.

So with 7 million people crammed into teeny tiny Hong Kong, it becomes real obvious who lives where. All you have to say is, “I live on Lamma Island” and you’ll get looks of pity.

After a recent conversation with a co-worker, it’s apparent that the rental’s market isn’t the only area with outrageous price tags in Hong Kong. This friend of mine went to an up-scale dinner at a local mall. No, Hong Kong mall restaurants don’t carry the same US stigma. My co-worker was dining with 11 others. They brought their own wine, which is normal practice here. Throughout the night, they were served abalone, shark fin soup, lobster, steamed fish, etc. In the end, the bill totaled….are you sitting down? The bill totaled $1,300 USD. May I repeat, NO ALCOLHOL was served. If I were in their shoes, I wouldn’t have left a tip.