Mr Tall has already given us the low-down on who you can expect to find in a local gym. Allow me to extend the list to things aquatic: the typical characters you'll see at your local swimming pool. Read more »

If you’re new to Hong Kong, you may have noticed that just about every Hong Kong kid seems to take music/art lessons. But most don’t take them at school, or at individual instructors’ homes or studios. Instead, their parents sign them up at for-profit organizations that serve as venues/clearinghouses for piano, singing, drawing and drama teachers to practice their necromancy – uh, I mean to apply their talents in passing along our civilization’s cultural heritage to today’s youth.  Read more »

Mr Tall has written a very thorough series of articles about applying for a local Hong Kong Primary School for your child.  They are written with the non-Hong-Kong-native parent in mind, but they should be helpful to any parent that's starting to get ready for this. Read more »

25 Sep, 13:57 UPDATE

If you can read this, you're looking at batgung.com running on the new hosting company's servers.

Everything should be back to normal, but please let us know if you find anything broken. We have a 30-day trial with the new company, so if there are any problems (pages displaying much slower than before, pages not displaying, features broken, etc.) let's find them early on. Read more »

In an article I wrote some time ago, I described a quest for ‘salvation’ pursued by means of receiving the best possible education. I also noted the disillusionment some of these seekers experience once they’ve summited their educational Everests.

My article presupposed that this ‘education as salvation’ theme is characteristic of Confucian cultures such as Hong Kong. But of course nothing in our world is so simple. A few weeks ago I came across another article that lays out the western equivalent. Titled 'The Disadvantages of an Elite Education', it's from the American Scholar, and it's by William Deresiewicz, a Yale English professor who finds it difficult to talk to his plumber: Read more »

A few weeks back I asked if our air pollution is getting better or worse, then answered myself: worse over the last 18 years, but possibly getting better slowly in the last one or two years.

Then I went looking for some more numbers to back this up, but found that ... well, see if you find them as surprising as I did. Read more »

I will warn you: this whole article is a cliché: US air travel bad; Asian air travel good. Those of you who have traveled in both hemispheres will know all about this, and no doubt have your own stories, but I can’t resist telling mine.  Read more »

How did you get your first job in HongKong?

Some of the most popular pages on our site are about finding work in Hong Kong. So if you didn't already have a permanent Hong Kong ID before you started working in Hong Kong, how did you find your first job and visa? We're hoping your stories will help others who are looking for ways to move to Hong Kong.

MrB's story Read more »

You don't need a chemistry degree or expensive monitoring equipment to tell when the pollution is bad. When the view from the window shows the harbour shrouded in a smoggy haze, you know that whatever is in the air can't be good for us.

But how do you tell if it is getting better or worse? Read more »

There are some shopkeepers in Hong Kong who seem more interested in ripping off tourists than making an honest sale. Don't let them spoil your holiday - if you're thinking of buying electronic or A/V equipment in Hong Kong, take a few minutes to read these guidelines. Read more »