Pollution levels in Hong Kong

[nezelette]

I'm seriously thinking of moving to Hong Kong with my family, as it sounds great and would be a good career move for me too.

However, I am extremely concerned about the pollution levels there. I have a 2 yr old and a 5 yr old, and I would hate to jeopardise their health in any way.
We do live in zone 2 in London at the moment, but in a fairly leafy area, and I hear that HK is much, much worse.

I would really appreciate advice from people who already live in HK, have lived there, or from people with medical experience who know whether there are serious risks / long term consequences for kids' health or not.

Thanks!

Hi there

HK pollution levels are pretty bad (although they fluctuate a lot), no two ways about it. The issues are mainly

1. Traffic in the central districts (island and Kowloon), especially old, diesel buses
2. Industrial pollution blowing across from Southern China which can impact the whole of HK when the wind is blowing in a certian direction.

Severity depends on weather conditions/ wind direction , hence fluctuations. It also looks worse than it is a lot of the time due to the hazy weather (humidity related) that can be mistaken for pollution.

However, unless your children are asthmatic (in which case I'd think twice) I wouldn't worry about it too much. You can always choose to live outside the central areas- either in the coastal parts of the New Territories (mainland) or the Southern/ Western coastal parts of the island (somewhat budget dependent) where traffic pollution is far less (prob less bad than Zone 2).

Thank you so much for your reply! HK seems like such a good place in all other respects (ok, apart from housing prices, but hey, I live in London!) I would hate to rule it out completely and your reply reassures me a little!

It has a lot to recommend it, but be aware that house prices make London look cheap, especially if you want a house vs an apartment. The tax does knock up your take home(16% top rate) but do the maths because, even after that, housing takes a bit chunk out of your earnings. Look on some websites (eg hongkong Homes) to get an idea of rental prices.

The other thing to take into account is employment opportunities for non-Chinese speakers. It sounds from your OP as though you'd be transferring with an employer or already have something lined up, but your spouse (if you have one) could find it hard to find work if he/she doesnt speak Cantonese and/or Mandarin and this can obviously be problematic if you're used to being a 2 wage family. Don't let people who were here 5/10 years ago tell you that it's not a problem and you can get something just with English. Language increasingly is an issue, even in the former Gweillo bastians of banking, finance and law. Teaching is the exception where they always need native English speakers.

Anyway, not trying to put a downer on your plans. We absolutely love HK and dont regret moving for a second, but forewarned is forearmed and all that

I think Baggedand was right, you don't have to worry too much unless your children are asthmatic..I am from Hong Kong originally, left 4 yrs ago and now living in Scotland....I would love to move back...actually, if DH (he's british) finds a job then we will definitely move back as he loves Hong Kong too.

Like Baggedad mentioned, house prices make London look cheap, i know it's ridiculous but true, its just even more crazy recently but tax rate is very low compare to the UK ..you can get something cheaper if you don't mind living a bit further from the city..I used to live in the New Territories so I was used to the commute..I used to work in Admiralty..transportation link is excellent in HK.

You need to bear in mind that its a completely different life style, if you want your kids to go to 'International nursery', the English foundation has a few in HK, they are good but cost about £500 per month per child.

For me, house prices and education are the 2 main issues...I still love to move back though and I love it happens soooner than later.

Good luck!

Hi there, we moved to HK last year, and absoloutly love it. We have 3 boys, twins of 3 and a half, and a 2 yr old, and they are all settled and seem very happy here as well. Pollution levels are quite bad, and often our (tiny) balcony is covered in grime caused by pollution, and very occasionally, the schools have to keep the children inside at playtime if levels are too high (due to the wind direction blowing factory emissions over to HK from the main land as baggedad mentioned). That said, my husband's asthma has not got any worse since being here (we were in london before). We are out in the new territories though, and close to the sea so maybe that makes a difference, not sure how it would be living in central/over on HK island. I do not know what the long term effects would be, but we are planning on being here for 6 yrs plus, and at the moment, have no cause for concern about our children's health in relation to the pollution, although it is something we have considered when discussing living in HK for the duration of their time at secondary school, by which time we would have been here for 17 yrs plus. HK is a wonderful place to live, we really enjoy it and are really pleased we took the plunge and packed up and shipped out. Good luck making your decision, and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

PS as baggedand said, the public transport system here is great, so maybe think about lving in the new territories and commuting if pollution is a concern. It takes about 45 mins from us to central on the mtr (we are in shatin, if you google 'hk mtr map' you will find it, don't know how to do a link ,sorry). One of my neighbours works in central, and only has to go a few stops on the mtr and then gets on a shuttle bus provided by her company, so she gets into work in about 35 mins from here. Might be worth asking if your company offer a shuttle bus service for you as well? Also, HK island is not very kiddy friendly in terms of lots of steps/escalators and steep hills. Total nightmare with a buggy, and quite long walks between places for small people. Taxis are very cheap though so you can always hop in a cab if they get tired.