Trip readiness checklist for Hong Kong

What to pack

Hong Kong is vertical, humid and air-conditioned to the bone. Pack for heat outside and a fridge inside, shoes for stairs and hills, and one outfit that passes a hotel bar's dress code.

• A light layer for the indoors

  Malls, the MTR and restaurants run their air conditioning at full tilt. A cardigan or shirt saves you from shivering through dim sum.

• Comfortable walking shoes

  The Mid-Levels escalator is the exception; everything else is stairs, hills and 25,000 steps a day. The Dragon's Back and Lantau trails want real trainers.

• A compact umbrella

  Showers come fast from April to September, and the typhoon-season downpours are biblical. Locals carry one year-round; so should you.

• A Type-G plug adapter

  Hong Kong uses the British three-pin plug at 220V.

When to go

October to December is the sweet spot: clear, dry and comfortable, and the city knows it, so book ahead. Chinese New Year in late January or February closes shops and fills hotels; March and April are grey and humid. Summer is hot, wet and cheaper, with typhoon warnings from July to September that can shut the city for a day.

Money & getting around

Hong Kong runs on the Hong Kong dollar (HKD), pegged to the US dollar at about 7.8. Buy an Octopus card at the airport: it pays for the MTR, buses, ferries, trams, convenience stores and most cafés with a tap, and the Airport Express takes 24 minutes to Central. Cards work almost everywhere, but markets, street food and the older restaurants stay cash. Tipping is not expected; restaurants add a 10 percent service charge and taxis just get rounded up.

Local quirks worth knowing

Hong Kong is fast, polite and tightly organised, and the etiquette mostly comes down to not slowing anyone else down.

• Stand right, walk left

  On every escalator, in every station. Blocking the left side at rush hour earns the quietest, deadliest glare in Asia.

• No eating or drinking on the MTR

  Not a coffee, not a bun. It is a fine, and it is enforced. Finish on the platform.

• Tap the table to say thank you

  When someone refills your tea at dim sum, tap two fingers on the table. It is the whole thank-you and nobody has to stop talking.

• Chopsticks never stand upright in rice

  It mirrors incense at a funeral. Lay them across the bowl or on the rest.

• Queue, always, even for the tram

  The line forms neatly at bus stops, ferry piers and taxi ranks, and jumping it is the one thing that gets you told off out loud.

A week in Hong Kong, the list starts here

Quantities scale with your dates, the weather groups arrive once we have your travel days, and your own plans add their gear on Trip Pass.

• Passport & travel documents1
• Phone charger & adapter1
• Wallet, cards & some local cash1
• Toiletries bag1
• Any daily medicationsenough for the trip
• Underwear7
• Socks7
• T-shirts / tops5

• Everything in my carry-on, and why each thing earns its spot
• The packing trick that got me through 3 countries with one carry-on