moving to HK from the US

O

Omerliane

Registered User
HI,

WE are relocating to HK from the US at the end of april.
I have several questions:
1. can we bring our american electrical applainces to HK?
(refrigerator, washer, dryer, computers, TV'S)
2.we are looking for a mandarin speaking maid- do you familiar with a good agency?
thanks,
 
you would need converters and transformers for all of your appliances as they are different voltages

if you don't know where you are going to live yet, and have the dimensions, i would LEAVE your appliances at home. things are relatively inexpensive here and the housing maybe smaller than what you are used to. (TV's even run off a different system, so unless you have a "multi-system" tv, forget it.)
 
Agree with cara; The only thing I would bring is computers and any worthwhile monitors (if you have a nice big flat screen it's worth it, if its something basic may be easier to replace it here), just make sure the power boxes say they can accept 220 (should say 110-220) and you'll need an adapter.
 
I also agree. don't bring appliances it's not worth it and they are pretty inexpensive here. Depending on your housing budget the spaces tend to be smaller then you're used to and you won't be able to fit as much as you think. Another tip as we just went through our housing search is you may also want to think about not bringing too many dressers as a lot of apartments don't have closets, instead they either have nothing and you need to buy an armoire type thing or they have built-ins with drawers and hanging rods. I'm going to have to get rid of 2 of the four dressers (and they're not even big ones) that I brought with me. Hope this is helpful.
 
Are you coming without looking first? Like was mentioned above, things will be smaller, some will have built-in units, etc...
And to echo the above--don't bring the appliances.
Unless you have a really large housing budget (or really, really small US appliances) you'll need a second apartment for your washer, dryer and refrigerator. And I bet onky the dryer runs on 220.
Chances are your TV will not work here.
Computer should be fine, but carry the hard drive with you, don't subject it to abn ocean crossing or you will soon be buying a new one. And back-up your files before leaving, just in case.
Monitor will have the same voltage issue--check to make sure it takes 220. Most computers do, most monitors don't.
 
Leave as much as possible behind. there is almost no space here. Even your furniture will look huge here, never mind the US sized appliances. Moving them is much more trouble than it's worth.

As for the helper, you cannot hire from the mainland but you might be able to find someone who learned mandarin, maybe they worked in Singapore or something. Try not to use an agency, just ask friends for reccomendations. Most agencies cheat the maids and you can find a good helper without one. I also tried to find one who speaks Mandarin but in the end I'm glad to have one that speaks cantonese, she can help communicate. Anyway most helpers don't speak correctly so I don't want her teaching my kids. You hear many Chinese kids speaking "maids' english" and believe me you don't want it.
 
Contrary to what everybody else said, I think you can bring your small kitchen appliances along as well as TV, game consoles, computers. If you ship one than there is almost no difference in money to ship them all. However, in regards to the converter you SHOULD buy them already in the US, because here they are hard to get and they are damn expensive.
 
hmm, as i said they are hard to get... maybe somewhere in mong kok... however, IF you have family or friends visiting from overseas ask them to bring a transformer along
 
I lived in the States for 4 years until recently, we moved back to Europe (and are now planning to move to HK later this year). I had very good experiences with www.world-import.com (located in US) to buy various converters for a few PBK lamps, my Kitchen Aid, Cuisinart, etc. For the lamps I bought step up 200W and a large 1500W step up for the kitchen appliances (you need to keep in mind that appliances surge when turning on). I send them a question with regards to what they advised me to get, got a nice and quick reply. Spend about $125 on 5 or 6 converters incl. the big one. Good money considering a Kitchen Aid is about 4-6 x the price here! I just shipped them with me. Working great for us. Highly recommended. You just may need a different plug (we have 220V in Europe as well, but different plugs) but I am sure they can help you with that too.
 
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We always found our converters at Radio Shack. We had about 8 while living in Europe 2 years ago. We gave them away when we moved back to the US...now I wish we hadn't...we are moving to HK!
 
Converters are much easier to find in the US. We use one on our printer, but bought the rest of the small appliances in HK (we had a check from the company specifically for that).
 
jens-babes said:
We always found our converters at Radio Shack. We had about 8 while living in Europe 2 years ago. We gave them away when we moved back to the US...now I wish we hadn't...we are moving to HK!
Click to expand...

We lived in Chicago (Lincoln Park; Ashland / Diversey) for 4 years and recently moved back to Europe (Dec 07) and now we're moving to Hong Kong too (as of August 08)! Going back early June with my oldest to do some shopping, meet friends, etc.
 
You could easily get transformer at all the hardware shops in Central, HK. It depends the "watt" you need, the price is from HKD 100ish.
 
Bear Lau,

Do you know where you can buy these transformers in Central, HK? We need them for our US appliances like our Kitchen Aid mixer which has a 325 watt motor. The ones used for our US computer and printer look like basic travel ones.
 
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