While you’re enjoying your vacation in Hong Kong, don’t forget to get some souvenirs for your family and friends. With the huge variety of products and stores available, you must be wondering: what to buy in Hong Kong?
Whether it’s traditional handicrafts, snacks, Chinese tea or luxury goods, this guide covers some Hong Kong pasalubong ideas that you can look out for. We’ll also talk about the Wise card and how it can help you to stretch every peso when paying while travelling.
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Hong Kong is a city full of culture and old shops that have been operating for decades. If you’re thinking of things to buy in Hong Kong, traditional handicraft or Chinese herbs and tonics come to mind - here are a couple of souvenir ideas.
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.
You’ll also be able to find herbs like packets of ginseng to brew tea, and even packs of dried bird's nests. Of course, there are also medicated balms and oils to reduce nausea, provide relief from itchy insect bites and more.
How about some traditional handicrafts that you’ll be able to bring home to put on display or even use? For a souvenir that will get plenty of use in the Philippines’ heat, how about a folding fan? High-quality options come with hand-painted scenes and perhaps even a short poem, but there are also more affordable options with printed designs that can be found at night markets.
Jade is another great souvenir, since Hong Kong is home to many jade artisans. Whether it’s a personalised seal that can stamp your name or jade bangles and jewellery, there’s plenty to be found in areas like the Jade Market in Yau Ma Tei or at smaller, individual jewellery stores.
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The country is packed with small local shops that still carry traditional snacks including pastries and biscuits. For those thinking about what to buy in Hong Kong for friends and family, here are some local delicacies for pasalubong or some self-indulgence.
Whether it’s delicious, crisp egg rolls, buttery cookies or traditional wife biscuits, there’s bound to be something for everyone in Hong Kong. If you’ve ever seen a cute biscuit tin with a bear on the lid, you might have seen something from Jenny Bakery. While there are Jenny Bakery resellers in the Philippines, there’s just something about getting the biscuits from the 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 1,060 PHP) there, while it retails for 1,920 PHP from resellers in the Philippines².
Wife biscuits or wife cakes are a traditional snack in Chinese culture, and the Yuen Long district in Hong Kong is famous for this pastry. You must visit Hang Heung if you’re looking to get a box or two, since they’re 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 600 PHP)³.
Fancy some tea to go along with all those snacks? You’ll be able to find high-quality loose leaf teas in Hong Kong 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.
You’ll want to check out stores like Kee Heung Chun, Sunsing Tea and Fukien Tea for a wide variety of teas such as Tie Guan Yin, Pu-erh, Longjing, Oolong and more. From traditional tea shops to more commercialised stores with pre-packed teas, you'll be able to pick up an ideal tea.
Want to treat yourself with a luxury purchase after buying all those souvenirs for your friends and family? Your wallet will certainly thank you, since there’s no VAT, GST or sales tax in Hong Kong, so you’ll be saving money on any expensive purchases that you want to make.
If you’re wondering where to buy gold in Hong Kong, you might want to check out local jewellery shops. Aside from those, there are also gold sellers such as LPM Gold in Central, which stocks gold and silver bullion from mints all over the world, as well as gold bars and other rare coins.
There are also plenty of gold traders in Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok and Causeway Bay, so you’ll want to shop around to get the best price.
As for jewellery in Hong Kong, there are several options you can pick from, depending on factors like budget, design, and brand. Traditional jewellery shops like Luk Fook, Chow Tai Fook and Chow Sang Sang typically specialise in gold jewellery, while there are smaller brands like Valentina Fine Jewellery, Splitting Colours Jewellery and Nyrelle wgucg offer colourful gemstones, ethnically-sourced stones and more.
Whether you're getting it for yourself, or as a gift for someone else, the options are endless in Hong Kong, not to forget the money you save from taxes - you might even be able to snag a good deal and get some pieces at a bargain.
Now that you’ve got your eye on a couple of things to buy from Korea, save more when you spend with the Wise card.
With the Wise card, makaka gastos ka ng 40+ currencies sa mid-market rate, kasama ang USD, SGD, GBP at JPY. Kaya, siguradong makakakuha ka ng sulit na deal sa mahigit 150+ countries. Para makapagsimula, gumawa ka lang ng libreng Wise account, mag-order ng card, at mag-top-up ng PHP.
Maaari kang mag-order ng physical card ng Wise sa halagang 369.90 PHP. Kung mayroon kang physical na card, makakagawa ka ng chip and PIN payments, at may 2 libreng ATM withdrawals na aabot sa 12,000 PHP bawat buwan.
Kapag nasa abroad ka, puwede mong piliing gumastos ng direct as PHP at hayaan mag auto-convert, o i-convert sa gusto mong currency gamit ang iyong Wise account. Kahit ano piliin mo, makukuha mo ang rate na nakikita mo sa Google, na may kasamang low, transparent fees mula 0.57%.
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