|
Main
Home
Overview
Pre - Departure
Applications
Healthcare
Insurance
Passport
Plane Tickets
VISA
Packing
Adapters
Clothes
Laptop
Travel Books |
Logistics
Banking
Bathrooms
Budget
Communication
Food
Money
Personal ID
Security
Transportation
Water
Weather
Post - Arrival
Room Cleaning
Sports Complex
Store Hours
VISA Tip |
Communication:
Internet & E-mail
City University provides computer facilities to allow you to access the internet and email. The university's main student computing facility is the CSC (Computer Services Center). The CSC is only open most of the day, but it closes at night. CityU also has stand alone terminals around campus that allow you to access the web.
An Internet connection is available in your dorm room via Ethernet or dial-up. Connections are easily set up using a laptop. To activate your Ethernet connection in your dorm room, visit the service counter in the CSC.
Local & Long Distance Calling
You are provided a phone and voice mail system in your room. You can make local calls from this phone, but there is no in-house long distance service provided. To make long distance calls, i.e. calling home, you'll have to purchase a calling card. You can purchase calling cards online, which may give you the best rates if you shop around. You can also find calling cards throughout the city, even the desk in the lobby of the dorm sells them. However, the ones they sell don't give the best rates.
Cellular Phones
In Hong Kong they're called "mobiles", and just about everyone you see will have one. From the grade school child who is talking to their mother while they are walking through the mall after school, to the 65 year old man on the train who has a hands free set in his ear, everybody has got a mobile. Sadly, our US cell phones won't work on the Hong Kong networks. We're just unlucky that way. The European exchange students will probably bring theirs with them from home...theirs will work. The mobile phone service in Hong Kong is all based on something called a SIM card. We don't have these in the States.
A mobile phone can be very handy in Hong Kong, especially if you and your friends go out in to the city and split up and want to meet back for lunch, or if you just plain get lost. It's good to have the phone numbers of your local friends handy along with you so you can call them for any help you might need. You can pick up a descent mobile phone for pretty cheap, less than $100 USD (Phones with English menus are usually cheaper). What is great is that after you are done with it you can sell it to a second hand dealer before you leave Hong Kong. Given, you wont get back near what you paid for it, but it's at least something (Phones with English menus don't have a high resale value). It's like buying a text book and selling it back. Once you buy a phone, you'll have to buy a SIM card to allow you to access a network. Prices vary for these, but expect to pay around $35 USD for new service and a descent allotment of starting minutes. The SIM cards you will end up buying is like a pre-paid service plan; airtime is incredibly cheap in Hong Kong. If you can afford to buy a mobile phone in Hong Kong, I suggest asking a local to help you shop for one.
Regular Mail
You'll be provided a mail box in the lobby of the dormitory. There is also a letter drop box in the lobby. However, the lobby doesn't sell stamps. If you need to buy stamps, or send anything larger than a standard envelope, you'll have to visit the post office. There is a post office near campus, just a five to ten minute walk away. |
