hong kong--is this enough money?
 

Will be in Hong Kong for 5 days, hotel and airfare is already covered. I'm on a budget, but is $700 USD enough money for 5 days? We will probably eat inexpensively, most of the money will probably go towards airport transport and bottled water LOL.

thanks!

My god yes!

The Airport Express costs about $30 dollars return. Bottled water is no more than a $ a bottle in a supermarket.

Justr stay out of the 4 and 5* hotel restaurants and you will have no problem staying on budget

4* hotel restaurants are still okay. Well, at least I do eat there. Only the 5* ones that are extra-expensive.

Just to clear up a misconception, you do NOT need to buy bottled water in Hong Kong, the tap water is perfectly safe. It meets all US health standards. I live here and have been drinking it, without ill effects, for 6 years. Singapore is safe as well if you are going there. Japan too. That should save you some money. In restaurants, ask for tap water if you don't want to pay for bottled water.

I think US$140 a day for food and expenses is fine, I assume you mean for two people, so you mean US$70 a day. I agree that the more expensive restaurants like Felix, Spoon, Hutoung will be out of your range (unless you skip lunch and breakfast) but otherwise you will find no problem with that spending limit I should think, even taking taxis are very cheap.

I will tell you that local Chinese (i.e. 95% of the population) do not drink tap water in Hong Kong. The water supply is safe, but at many older buildings, water is stored at a tank in the top of the building, and contamination (or more commonly, rust) is not uncommon.

It's not a problem at newer luxury apartments or 4-5* hotels and their restaurant, but at other places, there's no guarantee.

Now, any Chinese restaurants will provide you with hot water that's been boiled. And most other restaurants will also provide you with cold water that's been boiled and then cooled. Basically, if water is provided to you, they are safe.

But if you're just walking down the street or hiking and feel thirsty, then you can't just look for a water fountain, or go drink water off a tap somewhere. Then you need to pay for bottled water, which is relatively cheap like Walter says. About a dollar.

Yes, I was pretty sure someone was going to comment on the local practice, which I think is more of a superstion than anything else. (There are hardly any "old" buildings in Hong Kong, I live in one built in 1950 and it is one of the oldest residential buildings on Hong Kong island.)

There arent a lot of drinking fountains anyway, so you won't be doing too much drinking on the street. My point was that in hotels, you can drink from the tap, and in restaurants, if you are given tap water, you can drink it, you don't need to pay for bottled water.

Many locals also drink distilled water (as it is cheaper than treated and bottled tap water or spring water), which is legal to be sold as drinking water here, but in many countries is illegal to be sold as drinking water. If you buy bottled water, make sure you aren't buying distilled water, which is not the same as spring water or just plain treated tap water; it is water in which all minerals and trace elements have been removed, not so good for you on a regular basis.

Cicerone - When I was growing up in Hong Kong in the 70's and 80's, my family have lived in 3 different so-called luxury apartments. These weren't old buildings - mostly built in the early 70's. So, they were only about 10-15 years old when I lived in them. But the tap water was often brownish in color - mostly because of rusting in the pipes, or the storage tanks themselves. And no way would I drink that water straight from the tap! ;) Two out of those three buildings are still standing in the Mid-Levels. I hope they've upgraded their piping and water storage, but wouldn't bet on it.