The local currency in Hong Kong is the Hong Kong Dollar (HK$ or HKD), which is loosely tied to the US Dollar at about HK$7.8->US$1. There are coins of 10c, 20c, 50c, $1, $2, $5 and $10, although there are noises about phasing out the 10c and 20c coins, and notes of $10, $20, $50, $100, $500 and $1000. Paying for small things with a $500 is likely to earn at least an unhappy look, and possibly a refusal to make change, and I wouldn't try using a $1000 for anything smaller than about $300. Following a counterfeiting scare in 2007, many shops and cafes are now refusing to accept $1000 notes outright. The notes, apart from the $10, are issued by commercial banks, so there are a number of different forms in circulation - in particular, I find I mix up the $20 and $50 notes sometimes because some look similar.

There are no area codes in Hong Kong, and cellular penetration is around 130% - in other words, there are more mobile/cell phones in Hong Kong than people. I don't even have a landline, and I don't think I know any of my friends' numbers either. There are repeaters so cellphones work in road tunnels and rail/MTR stations and trains, so it's common to see people chatting away on the train. In general, there's no per-minute fee for calls within Hong Kong, except for cellphones, where we pay an airtime fee which applies to all calls - incoming, outgoing, local, international.

Hong Kong consists of around 260 islands and an area of mainland. Lantau Island is the biggest, has some interesting tourist spots, but is otherwise largely undeveloped. Hong Kong Island is the second-biggest and is the 'Manhattan' of Hong Kong, with the major commercial/financial district and most of the more upscale shopping and residential areas along the north side of the island, with some decent beaches and seaside towns along the south, and a green ridge rising along the spine of the island in-between. The mainland is divided into Kowloon and the New Territories. Kowloon is pretty much one large urban area, covering the southern region of the peninsula, and is the slightly less-polished twin of the north side of HK Island. Between the north of Kowloon and the Chinese border is the New Territories, mainly local residential and unexciting retail stuff. There are one or two interesting places, like traditional villages, but otherwise, most tourists - and even most expats - rarely venture far into the New Territories.

The native language of Hong Kong is Cantonese, which is one of the two major dialects/variants of Chinese - some people consider them separate languages. English is the second official language, and everything official like government forms and roadsigns is bilingual. English is taught in schools, and most locals can at least understand some simple English, but levels vary wildly from perfectly fluent to no more than "yes", "no" and "sorry", although in my experience most locals are happy to practice and show off whatever English they have. In general, on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon, at least, it's very easy to get by with only English, and without the scorn shown in many other countries to tourists who only speak English.

Hong Kong has one of the best public transport systems in the world - it's comprehensive, easy to use and cheap. The buses and MTR (underground, tube, subway, metro, etc.) run all over the place, until quite late at night, and apart from at rush-hour, you can generally stick your thumb out day or night in most parts of Hong Kong and have a cab stop within seconds. Cabs are pretty cheap - certainly compared with London, where I lived before Hong Kong, they're very cheap here - and most cabbies understand enough English to get to major landmarks, hotels, etc. If they don't understand, they'll usually hand you their cellphone or radio and ask you to explain to their friend or controller, who speaks better English. There are also ferries, two types of minibus and two types of tram, and the near-magic Octopus card - all covered below.

The vast majority of 'western' tourists will arrive by air, to Hong Kong International Airport, at Chek Lap Kok, originally a small island off the north of Lantau island, greatly expanded by reclamation in order to build the airport which opened in 1998. It replaced the older Kai Tak airport, which was world-renowned for having one of the most difficult and exciting landing paths of any commercial airport, since it had a single airport projecting into the harbour from Kowloon, and planes were required to fly low over Kowloon, then make a tight turn immediately before landing. The new airport may be less exciting, but it is one of the best airports in the world, in terms of shopping and eating, traveller's services, and sheer efficiency. As an example, there was a brand-new exclusive rail line built to deliver passengers to and from the airport from Kowloon and Hong Kong island, with in-town check in at both stations, and with the station at the airport directly attached to the arrival/departure areas, no more than a few minutes walk (or trolley-push) away from the security/customs areas.

It is also possible to arrive in Hong Kong by land - from China - or by boat - either a short-haul ferry from China or Macau or a longer cruise from elsewhere in Asia. The land crossing to China and the ferries to Macau will be covered later in this guide, and I can't really comment on the cruise option.