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Transportation:
Getting around the city is easy. Hong Kong has an extensive underground rail system, called the MTR (Mass Transit Railway) that will take you just about anywhere you want to go in Hong Kong. There are also ferries, taxis, buses, mini buses, and the KCR (Kowloon - Canton Railway).
One thing you will want to get your hands on right away when you get to City University is an application for what is called a Student Octopus Card. The applications are available at all Customer Service counters in all the MTR stations or from Student Development Services office at CityU. The Octopus is a real convenience in Hong Kong. It's a stored value card that you can use to pay your fare on just about every form of transportation, except taxis. You can also use it to buy things in 7-Eleven, vending machines, and even use it to pay for food in some McDonald's restaurants. The student version of the octopus card gives you half price on transportation fares. Sorry, no half price McDonald's.
Getting To/From CityU and Hong Kong International Airport
From HKO to CityU
The Easiest:
The most trouble free way to get from the airport to CityU is by taxi. This is also the most expensive way, fare will be about $300 HKD. If you have a lot of luggage, there may also be a extra charge. You can ask the service counter on where to go to catch a taxi. The chances that you'll get a taxi driver who understands a bit of English is pretty good. If you want to be on the safe side, you can try and ask a porter (most HKO employees will speak English) to communicate in Cantonese that you want to go to "City University in Kowloon Tong". You could also ask the person at the airport service counter to write in Chinese on piece of paper that you want to go to so you can just hand the paper to the taxi driver.
Cheaper:
Another option is to take the MTR. The only hassle here is, is that you will have to change trains several times. If you have more than two pieces of large luggage, this can be a hassle. Not just in having to move the luggage, but depending on the time and day you arrive in Hong Kong, the MTR could be packedwith people. Total fare to ride the MTR from HKO to Kowloon Tong is about $60 HKD. I'd suggest talking to the service desk at the airport for more assistance.
If You Are Not in a Hurry:
In terms of money and hassle, this is the most economic route to take, but it will take you upwards of an half hour to forty-five minutes to get to CityU from the airport. What you'll want to do is take a bus, route A21, from the airport to Hung Hom KCR Station. Fare will be about $33 HKD, and it will be about a half hour bus ride. This is kind of nice because you get to see a lot of the city on your way to the KCR station. Hung Hom will be the end of the line for the bus, then you'll buy a ticket to Kowloon Tong Station, about $5 HKD, and a 5 minute train ride and you're at Kowloon Tong KCR & MTR station!
From CityU to HKO
Of course, you could back track the way you came but there is another option you might want to check out to get yourself to the airport on the day of your departure. One of the services provided by the desk in the lobby of the dormitory is that they can call a cab for you. Chances are, there will be a group of exchange students leaving the same day and about the same time as you are. So what you do is find out who those people are, then ask the person at the desk to call a van taxi for you and your friends to take you to the airport. Fare will be in between $200 and $300 HKD. But since it's a van, and you can fit about 3 or 4 people in it with all your luggage and $300 HKD split up to four ways is not that bad. |
