What to buy in Hong Kong for Malaysians: Travel guide for snacks, souvenirs and more

Planning a trip to Hong Kong and thinking about what sort of things to buy back for your family and friends? In this guide, we’ll bring you through some suggestions for snacks, handicrafts, gifts and more that are perfect as souvenirs.

This guide covers all you need to know when shopping, so you’ll know what to pick up, especially if it’s your first time. We’ll also talk about how to use the Wise card to save on your MYR to HKD transactions when spending in Hong Kong.

What Hong Kong souvenirs to buy?

Hong Kong is packed with small local shops that still carry traditional snacks, Chinese teas and unique handicrafts. Here are some souvenir ideas for your next trip.

Local snacks and tidbits

How can you return from Hong Kong without local snacks? Whether it’s delicious, crisp egg rolls, buttery cookies or traditional wife biscuits, there’s bound to be something for everyone.

Duck Shing Ho has made quite a name for itself, with snaking long queues for the bakery’s crispy egg rolls that melt in the mouth. Located on Java Road near the North Point MTR station, you’ll want to head down early to snag some tins to bring home. Remember to take cash with you, as they don’t accept credit cards.

Ever saw a cute biscuit tin with a bear on the lid? You might have seen Jenny Bakery’s products then. While Jenny Bakery is also in Malaysia, there’s just something about getting the biscuits from its original store that can’t be beat. The much cheaper price also makes the trip worth it, since a large tin of the original butter cookies goes for just 150 HKD¹ (around 85.54 MYR) there, while it retails for 178 MYR at Jenny Bakery Malaysia².

Wife biscuits or wife cakes are a traditional snack in Chinese culture, and the Yuen Long district in Hong Kong is famous for this snack. If you’re looking to get a box or two, you can’t miss out on visiting Hang Heung, which is one of the most famous wife cake shops around. Made with pork lard for a flaky crust and filled with sweet candied wintermelon. It’s the perfect snack for tea time. A box of six of the classic flavour sells for 85 HKD (around 48.47 MYR)³.

Chinese teas

If you’re a tea person, Hong Kong will be your heaven. You’ll be able to find high-quality loose leaf teas here at affordable prices, and if you’re a collector, you’ll even be able to find bricks of fermented pu-erh tea from as far back as 1995⁴.

Make sure you check out Kee Heung Chun, Sunsing Tea and Fukien Tea for a wide variety of teas such as Tie Guan Yin, Lapsang Souchong, Longjing, Oolong and more.

Traditional handicraft

Looking for something more permanent? How about some traditional handicrafts that you’ll be able to bring home and display or use?

For a useful souvenir, how about getting a folding fan? High-quality fans come with hand-painted scenes and perhaps even a short poem, but more affordable options exist with printed designs and can be easily found at night markets.

Jade is another fantastic souvenir, particularly since there are so many jade artisans in Hong Kong. Whether you want to get a personalised seal that can stamp your name or jade bangles and jewellery, there’s plenty on offer in areas like the Jade Market in Yau Ma Tei or at smaller, individual jewellery stores.

Bird cages are another item that evokes Hong Kong vibes. If you have a pet bird at home, why not check out the exquisitely crafted bird cages that can be found at stalls along the Yuen Po Street Bird Market? Traditionally made out of bamboo, options featuring other materials like steel or plastic are also available.

What to buy from Hong Kong airport?

Is your itinerary too packed to spare time to shop? That’s alright, there are plenty of options at the Hong Kong International Airport to choose from.

Health and beauty products

If you’re a believer in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), you might want to pick up local herbs and remedies from specialty stores. Whether it’s Nim Jiom Pi Pa Gao to soothe sore throats or packets of herbs to brew into soup for added nourishment, you’ll be spoiled for choice in Hong Kong.

Of course, there are also medicated balms and oils to reduce nausea, provide relief from itchy insect bites and more.

For beauty products, you’ll want to check out Watsons and Mannings drugstores for Western, Korean and Japanese beauty brands. If you’re looking to try out a local beauty brand, Botanic Pretti5 utilises Traditional Chinese Medicine ingredients in their formulations. Bathe to Basics is another local brand that makes their products in Hong Kong with all-natural botanical oils and gentle formulations.

Luxury products

If you’re intending to treat yourself with a luxury purchase, your wallet will certainly be pleased to know that there’s no VAT, GST or sales tax in Hong Kong so you’ll be saving money on any designer brands that you want to buy.

Don’t forget to check out local designer brands like Home Kong, Ascot Chang and even Shanghai Tang, which is actually a Hong Kong brand despite the name.

Last-minute gifts

If you need to get some last minute gifts, the airport also has branches of popular brands like Fook Ming Tong, which sells beautifully packaged teas. Need some snacks to bring to the office? You’ll be able to find Hang Heung, Wing Wah and Kee Wah outlets for egg rolls and other traditional pastries.

There’s also a Mannings drugstore outlet so you can purchase medicated oils and last minute beauty products if you forgot to stock up during your trip. And of course, there are plenty of luxury designer outlets in the airport, with local brands like Home Kong, Chow Tai Fook, Goods of Desire, Shanghai Tang and more.

Save more when you shop in Hong Kong when you stretch your MYR to HKD spending using the Wise card

There’s so much to see and do in Hong Kong, but you won’t have to worry about paying more than you have to as long as you spend with Wise. With a Wise account, you can hold and convert between 40+ currencies and spend it in over 150+ countries.

You can order a linked Wise card before flying as well - simply top up your account with MYR and use the card to make payments in HKD so you don’t get hit with unreasonable currency conversion fees. There’s automatic conversion between currencies at the mid-market exchange rate, with low, transparent fees⁹. If you prefer, you can also convert in advance when it’s at your desired exchange rate so you can manage your HKD and card spending all through the Wise app.

Need cash on hand? You’ll be able to get 2 free ATM withdrawals of up to 1,000 MYR with the Wise card, so you’ll be able to visit markets, restaurants, and shops while always having a way to pay.

For cheap and convenient foreign currency spending in Hong Kong and beyond.

💳 Get your very own Wise card

1. Jenny Bakery Hong Kong
2. Jenny Bakery Malaysia
3. Hang Heung Cake Shop
4. Kee Heung Chun