Quick Facts

Travel to Hong Kong for visits of less than three months does not require a visa for a majority of nationalities. A passport is required. Note that separate entry requirements apply for travel from the HKSAR to Mainland China, and to the Macau SAR.

View visa requirements from the HKSAR Immigration Department

The unit of money is the Hong Kong Dollar (HKD).

Credit cards are accepted in major hotels as well as shopping malls. You may wish to purchase an Octopus card, a stored-value smart card which is a popular and convenient way to pay transit fares and make small purchases at selected shops.

Here are the most recent exchange rates for some common currencies.

HKD 1.00 equals:

There are no sales, duty or value-added taxes in Hong Kong.

A 10% service charge is added to hotel and restaurant bills. It is also customary to leave a small additional tip.

Bank Hours
9am - 4.30 / 5pm, Monday through Friday
9am - 12.30 or 1.30 / 4.30 pm, Saturday (depending on branch)

Office Hours 
9am - 5 / 6pm, Monday through Friday
9am - 1pm, Saturday

Shopping Hours
A majority of shops are open seven days a week from 10am to 7pm or as late as 9pm.

Medical services are at a high standard, though public hospitals can be crowded and private clinics may be quite expensive.

We recommend not drinking water from the tap. Bottled drinking water is available in every hotel room.

Light suits and dresses are appropriate for business. A light raincoat or umbrella may be useful from mid-May to mid-September, the summer rainy season.

A sweater is recommended for indoors, particularly in the summer months, when the air conditioning can be quite cold. Coats are occasionally necessary from December to February.

Hong Kong has a subtropical climate with warm to hot, humid summers from May to September (25°C to 29°C / 77°F to 84°F), and a cooler season from December to February (14°C to 20°C / 57°F to 68°F).

The typhoon season runs from July to September, when heavy rain can be expected.