Are People Rude in Hong Kong? Speaking Chinese vs. English 香港人不友善嗎？
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- čas přidán 17. 03. 2017
- Before I traveled to #HongKong, I was told not to speak Mandarin Chinese because the people in Hong Kong are not the biggest fan of Mainlanders. If I wish to receive better service, stick to English. Ever since then, I've wondered about this. Blessed by the opportunity to visit Hong Kong for the first time, I decided to experiment and clarify this rumor. The result? Well you will have to watch the video to find out!
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Kwong Sang Hong Building Block B-d, 6 Heard St, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
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I grew up in Hong Kong and that’s how people treat me in shops and restaurants as well. Yes the waitress will yell at you if you are taking your time in a cha Chan teng, the point is they will get the food ready as fast as possibilities, not to stand there with you, have a nice little chat and go through the menu with you. Decide what you want before calling them over. They are also used to yelling with each other if they don’t have an intercom system. I had a big cultural shock when the chasier asked me how was my day when I first came to Australia. In Hong Kong they will just start grabbing your stuff, scanning and bagging them in lightening speed before saying “thanks bye”. Hong Kong is a face paced city and no one has time for pleasantries.
very similar in leeds , no has time for being pleasant its in or out on the fast food
@@heydonlam5936 There's been waves of mainland immigration in the last 30 years so not everyone in HK has a colonial childhood with English taught at school/etc.
Same like Singapore, one min thinking of the menu the auntie or uncle in coffeeshop will 🔪 🔪 I used to sweat when ordering 😂
@@SerBallister English is still taught in school and the English level of Hong Kongers have improved compared to colonial time…
New York is a fast paced city and cashiers will still ask you how your day is going.
dude if you spoke english and then switched to mandarin mid interaction thats not gonna work, shoulda just gone up and straight up start speaking beijing dialect with the curled tongue and shit for best results
we do hate that accent the most its so stupidly rude
Beijing mandarin sounds horrible!
the northern accent sounds the best to americans.
Americans pronounce their "r's" in a very similar way, so it's the preferred accent to learn in America.
thekingofmoney2000 the pronunciation of r is not the same actually.
such a bad social experiment.
Wong Michelle right
Can't agree more. It's more like a Hongkong traveling advertisement rather than a social experiment.
Why
I believe the majority of hong kongers respect mainland people. There are always a minority who are rude, but every country has rude people right?
Tushay Dan. We weren't faced with ill manners speaking Mandarin Chinese so 🙃
Dan C. every country has variety of bad and good apples so it's not good to change people
no way! i dont respect chinese
the truth hurts. if you're local Eric, you understand my comment is true. it's ok to let the world know hk people are alot like American's. we're proud of who we are and the world has to accept it.
I think it all depends on who you ask ?? Most Hkers understand mandarin 'cos it's part of their second tongue language other than english !!! Everybody that went to school in Hong Kong must take and a mandarin language course somehow, but if you're chinese and can't speak cantonese then they kind'a wonder if you're from the mainland or from a foreign country??? They have biased for mainlanders 'cos they are rude and 好霸地!!!!
Hmmmm.... From the video I sense that they are... not rude, but impatient... whether you speak English or Chinese.
They are impatient and it can be mistaken as rudeness. Korean culture also very fast paced so is japanese (as with HK) but I find koreans to be warmer (if that makes any sense) they can be impatient but their warmth shines through their impatience while HK people lack that "warmth" no offence but they just seem distant, cold and hard to approach compared to most asian nations.
Koreans have a very strong hierarchy thing going. Sure, they're polite to strangers, but if they're higher up in this hierarchy they can be pretty nasty.
I agree they can be nasty.
I am Korean, but I strongly agree with you. That lunatic hierarchy system must disappear in Korea for good. Thanks for pointing it out. We Koreans need to realize what is right and what is not.
I'm sorry... Yes people in HK are very very very inpatient... Everyone is rushing :/
i am a local and i get treated like shit here as well. i don't think this will ever change, people are always so tense and so impatient, because life is very difficult here. there's no way out really, i don't suggest hk as a travel destination to any of my friends.
I don't think it's unchangeable. You guys HAVE to stand up and oppose the government when necessary.
Actually I come to Hong Kong just for the food.
@@Zeddddy it's not a terrible place to live here. Besides from the stress you get from extra lessons, loads of homework and high expectations, it's great!
@@hywei5171 as if they’re gonna listen to us😅
@@hywei5171 I'm from HK and I think the gov currently is quite good. The main problems are with property prices and most people and satisfied with the government. I don't think the rude people are associated with the government tho.
When I'm in Hong Kong, I try using English and Mandarin, and I've found most people in the service industry speak Mandarin. Sometimes I also try out my beginning-level Cantonese. In all cases, I've found people to be mostly polite, but as in most places, people tend to be rude if they're really busy or in a hurry.
Haha I think Hong Kong is just a very fast paced environment so people tend to lose patience fast. Next time I'm in Hong Kong will make sure to pick up a few Cantonese phrases 😁
darn just when I thought going to Hong Kong would increase my patient skills :u
I think they all hust sound rude. It just seems to be a cantonese thing. Theyre a fast paced society and just talk to fast. And their accents dont help either. They sound rude but it doesn't necessarily mean they are.
I'd say more like "impatient"
ArmyCats they aren't impatient , can't u see how many people are in that restaurant. In hk u will never get a table by yourself, most people are like sharing with a stranger on a table. In hk , it's such a small country with over 7 million people, buildings are more than 70 story high. They need to keep the business running quick and fast to make money. U don't live there , u don't know it's culture so you can't just judge by this video.
Cathy Fung ive had many mainland Chinese friends.. And many ones who spoke cantonese most who were from hk. And i am not basing this on a single person, but i am speaking from my personal experience. They ARE impatient and very fast spoken. And can come off as being very rude or disrespectful. But they may not want to be seen that way thats just how they are. Fast paced people from face paced society.
According to your theory, Koreans and the Japanese should also be rude and disrespectful then? But no they're still polite and try to be polite because they care about what others think of them. Its a cultural thing too. Thats just how they are
I'm not judging anything. I'm just saying what I observed based on this video.
My impression remains the same: They are impatient.
+ArmyCats "They are impatient"...... Sorry, you are just too slow...
Better do this experiment now in Hong Kong and then you judge hehe
Last November I heard people speak Madarine. So not nuch of a problem.
i went to hong kong once last year. the thing i noticed is, if they know you are from mainland. they somehow treat you more rudely. no offence, i am a singaporean. But this is what i experience and see with my own eyes there. because of this issue, i dont dare to speak chinese as i am afraid of being discriminated there. gladfully i learn abit of cantonese.
Lol basically what my Chinese friend described. She gave me a headsup not to speak Mandarin Chinese in HK
Unfortunately it is true. I am from Beijing and I travel to Hong Kong sometimes, I can always tell that they are fed up with people who speak Mandarin with a mainland accent for no reason . But at the same time, i also have good hong kong friends from my American University who are nice and open minded. I really wish this HK-Mainland problem can diminish eventually. It is a shame for all Chinese ethnicity afterall.
Michelle Wmx I'm a Singaporean too, I guess they are able to differentiate the accent of our mandarin, plus most Singaporean speaks broken Chinese~~~ 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Michelle Wmx not just mainlander, you can feel that hongkong people worships westerner(European white) a lot at the same times they despise Asian including themselves badly.
Wy123 nope I don't think they worship westerners. More like they are inclusive of other nationalities, hence a lot of fusion foods. You can't generalize saying they all like westerners. Seeing as they suffered from the west and looked down on for hundreds of years.
I was in hongkong and talking to the waitress in english. She was polite at first. Then i started talking to my mom in mandarin, and she just started to give us looks and threw menu on the table and left, and didnt come back for order until we called another waiter.
😱 sorry to hear about your experience at the restaurant. I hope you didn't let it get to you and ruin your day :/
wow i m really sorry this happened to you....
A part of Hong Kong god damn DESPISES the mainlanders.
For what reason I won't explain here, but many people here are nice.
她心里想中国人说什么英语装逼？
Bryne uhh hongkong people speak cantonese not mandarin.But maybe that waitress is speakint mandarin
I'm from Singapore and I was shocked when I went to Hong Kong, even when I speak english politely, their service is still meh.. It really sucks especially since I went to Taiwan right after my Hong Kong trip, Taiwan's service is extremely good. I mean Hong Kong has some gentle nice cultured people who are polite when I ask for some directions but in general I say I'll be happy if the service staff ignores me. Perhaps if you spoke in a taiwan accent it might be better, beats me.
Ive been to Hong Kong twice already, but i must say that some HonG Kong people are rude. Customer service is almost negative to me. i tried going to Australia dairy company, people who works there has zero english , people were rude and will just yell at you, even at mcdonalds. very different from japanese and taiwanese people where it is also a fast phase country, but they would try their best to help you even they cant speak english!
well i dont know how to speak mandarin, only english, and we were talking to them in english, even the teenager who was working at a mcdonalds was even rude, oh well i guess thats a norm in hk. i prefer filipinos and indians working in hk, they are very kind if u need help
Sweet Asian maybe they don't speak English well so they seem rude?
tsim sha tsui! well maybe because u are chinese already, thats why they are nicer to u
well they dont act like that in other countries, especially compared to taiwanese and japanese
Sweet Asian I think it's just that most Hong Kong people do not like interacting with strangers, and yes I think it's extremely rude too. Think about it, being greeted in Hong Kong is so rare.
If you're rude, people will then be rude no matter where you go.
A vast majority of HKers are losers. They wear their misery on their faces. They hate their job, and their favorite activity is to hang up the phone on their customers. REAL FACTS. Don't give me this shit that I attracted this rudeness to myself. Thank God I do almost all my business online now
That's ridiculous! How can you describe HK people as losers when they built one of the world's greatest cities with very little help from China. They are lively, hard-working, enthusiastic, quick-witted people and worthy of respect from outsiders. Their version of Cantonese is a vigorous, expressive, cheerful local dialect which works for them and is worth learning if you're planning to stay for a couple of years. I loved the years I lived and worked in Hong Kong. What I miss most is the people and their noisy conversation. They are very special to me.
Bouncybon this breed of hongkonger you speak about no longer exists, or has emigrated. The hongkonger today is either the whine-all-day type yearning for the glory days under the brits, or the backstabbing type who would betray their parents/best friends for some small benefit
That sounds horrible. OK I'm a Brit and the HK I knew was very favourable to us. (Although I was not on the famous "expat terms".) We even shared the same sense of humour as the locals. I still have a few HK friends who 'look me up' in London, because the Chinese can be very loyal. (It's different with Japanese people who will drop you when it's inconvenient.) I can see how the "dream" is missing now. There was always the real possibility of making a huge financial success and many did. Maybe that looks more remote now.
When my grandpa's younger brother worked under the table at luk kwok gloucester fifty years ago, within twelve months the owner became good friends with him, took him to Sweden to manage his hotel holdings there, and BOOM! Three years later he was a multi millionaire. These days, you could work until you were 80, 90 as a temp worker at a five-star and no-one would even notice you
I went to HK last year though I use English to communicate though I know some Mandarin. I notice the local treat you better when you spoke English ...
they are hypocritical people , some people un Hong ....
That's because they are really busy. If you know a language they speak often, they get you over and done with, if you speak a foreign language, they struggle, so they speak differently. They don't speaking rudely though, the language just sounds rude to you but it isn't
@@madelaluz8482 they aren't hypocritical, Chinese and Cantonese just sounds loud and rude but it isn't, if you understood the language then maybe you would understand why they sound rude to you. Stop making accusations based on what little information you know.
Whatever language u use they will be rude anyway 😂😂😂
Don't judge a place by just a small part of it please.
only sometimes because we speak english
Not to lie as a hongkonger i dont think many of them are courteous
Even when we speak Cantonese
Monkeyking8596 actually, I've been to many parts pf hong kong and they were all rude..but yes there are always kind people
When I go to hk, I expect people to be rude. When I encountered nice hk people, I get surprisely happy. Life is too short. I want to enjoy my life.
So true. I thought HK will be more polite but they are still a bit rude and cold. It is their way of life, but I am sure they have improved over the years. I have met a few nice people though. Still it won't stop me from going back to HK.
Your comment made me laugh😂😂😂😂 hope you enjoy your life even though 2 Years passed
Stay in hk island side - beyond that people are plain rude and impatient
@@AO-iv6yr yo, just because Cantonese sounds loud doesn't mean it's rude. You're making a very offensive accusation about the people here. It's just that the locals are used to speaking loudly, that's just how the people are. The language is also only understandable through clear pronunciation, please have some respect to them
@@Joey-un3hy not true, people further from Hk island have older traditions. They speak Cantonese loudly, people in Hk island only speak softly and less loud than the other is because of people like you complaining about how rude they sound, if you understood what they were saying, maybe you wouldn't hurt their feelings for no reason
It's an interesting video, but I think it is hard to conclude much. I think HK people are busy and have an abrupt style of communication. They probably don't consider it rude, just efficient. However there are some that go beyond abrupt to extremely rude (doesn't matter what language you speak). I went places by myself and spoke English (some people were friendly, some abrupt and disinterested and yes some rude and unhelpful). Later I went places with some HK friends who spoke Cantonese with staff, pretty much the experience was the same as before when I spoke English. I don't know about Mandarin, but there are a lot of Mandarin speakers in HK now (not just tourists and traders), due to large scale immigration from mainland China. Some people have the perception that speaking English gives you better treatment but I don't think so. I think knowing Mandarin is an advantage simply because many staff understand it better and it makes their job easier.
I could never put it as nice as you did here juandenz2008 👍
Some I agree with you and now there's more and more mainstream coming in and out living in Hong Kong mixed Mainland/Hong Kong you don't really know who is who's rude rudely trader's /tourist or your in the wrong places 🤔I won't talk to u because am in a hurry or I dont understand u and there a reason for everything why people are like that .
I speak Mandarin, i don't speak a lot of Cantonese. But I do speak English. It's pretty much the same, some people are patient, some are rude. But i guess if you are white people, that's different. Their reaction is different if you are white or non-white.
to be honest, hk people arent being rude only to tourists. We could be pretty rude to locals as well.
I think there is some hidden social rules like being fast and be aware of your surrounding, trying not to obstruct others. That's the rule to survive here. Mainlanders got rude response frequently not just because of the political conflict between hk and china. It is because they didn't realize the situation in hk is totally different from that in china and they didn't adapt the social rules in hk.
(I was more than surprise when i realized there are tons of chinese that didn't realize how different hk people are. They don't even know we have different judicial system, tv channels, educational system....etc.)
As for english, i would say people who worked in restaurants, shops,etc are actually a bit scared of speaking in english. They would be more comfortable with mandarin due to increase of mainland tourists over the past decade. Not to mention a certain portion of them came from mainland china.
That's an interesting point. I think you might be right. Maybe tourists who don't realize this hits some "bad spots" in social manners and get bad treatments.
Now there are 2 countries (Hong Kong & China)I don't want to go.
US backed violent protest . How was that?
It's Luke NYC in the past, big cities have fast paced lifestyles.
I am from Singapore and have been to Hong Kong for more than 10 times. If you speak cantonese, they are one of the friendliest people.
isn't that racist or at least discriminating? the way you'll be treated depends on the language you speak....damn
Clariza Cran, I don't think so. I always learn a bit of the language when I travel, even it's just simple as good morning and how are you. People are always happy to hear naive language. It shows that you're trying to learn their culture.
Mate, it's like you going to France and speak English to a Frenchman, ofc they're gonna be less nice as opposed to when you speak French (their language) with them.
That's not true
Don't think so. They are rude even when you speak native Cantonese to them. They are inherently rude but they don't realise that.
Lived in hk for 4 months or so. I spoke English to avoid being perceived as a mainlander, but it's hard to find great services unless u are paying for hkd200+ meals. Personally I have no desire to visit the place again unless I have to. You could go to tokyo and experience a lot more for less money.
Will Chien but i went to tokyo and kyoto for a month i experience some rude attitude because they see me as a gaijin although i speak politely in Japanese. Idk maybe depends on people character and some of them will give racist attitude towards you even you nice to them to ask.
hki it happens in all over the world, even in different neighbourhoods.
Will Chien I agree if you go to high end places you won't experience their rudeness. I've been to HK twice and haven't tried street food or any ordinary restaurants . But if you stayed in five star hotels and high end restaurants you'll be treated nicely.
That sucks man!😑
@@faithlove1322 And also if you give them a lot of tips ! Lol!
As a hong konger I'm really sorry of our citezen's rude manners, but not all of them are actually. Some are really nice.
돈Dawnn I often hear that. But as far as I can feel, 90 % of Hong Kong people are really ignorant and rude.
@@bluebaby9487 not all of them are rude.
I'm work before in Hongkong for 11 years and all I know mostly hongkong people's are not rude.
I guess because they are language Cantonese is more loud then Mandarin.
Mandarin is smoother
they are rude if you speak chinese.
I don't think so at all. Hongkong people have become more and more angry toward mainland Chinese for some political reasons.
I read many commenters using fast paced of life as an excuse. A person being rude is not a matter of how fast paced their society is. It is a reflection of their cultural upbringing or the lack of it.
Though I suspect the reasons for their rudeness and frustrations were the results of STRESS living in those inhumanely build TINY apartments. People are unable to LITERALLY relax at home to release tension!
Ive been there are few days ago they are rude but the city is beautiful
@@Missiloveafrica
The city may be superficially beautiful on the outside but it is what’s WITHIN that holds REAL value. No point being beautiful on the outside but the majority of citizens and their children are living like rats packed inside tiny apartments or WORST, can’t even afford a decent home after a lifetime of work…
看台灣節目總是把香港服務形容的很誇張，但這個實測讓我感覺沒有想像中的糟，其實還算不錯了，畢竟香港人口密度高節奏快
+Debby Zhou 哈哈是吧！我沒去過以前以為會像其他人說的一樣很誇張, 但親自體驗之後其實還好
Debby Zhou 我的經驗是去買曲奇餅，上面寫限購兩大盒，我朋友排我前面用普通話詢問嘗試買兩大盒餅，竟然被拒絕，只能買1大1小，講了幾次都沒用，該我時，他先用廣東話問我，我搖頭，然後再用普通話問我，我也搖頭，然後我故意用手指示成功拿到兩大盒...有些地方還是有差的。
倒也不能說完全沒有這類事的發生，但總的來說，不要把少部分的經驗或人當成常態。
Hecter 777 哈，我想有時是因爲溝通不了，難以解釋就算吧，好像本應有些事是規定不能的，不懂用英文解釋，那麼便隨便讓他做好了。
美女谁会给脸色看？
Nice video! Thank you for sharing 😊
Grew up overseas and go back to hk every so often, and I do have the sense that people get colder every time I come back, i think rather than saying they're rude, its more like a lot of people think there's no time to be nice, and there is absolutely a minimal amount of people who will specifically go out of their way to help someone else.
i'm in hong kong right now ... yes !!! people here are rude
tetschua Only some. It's not fair to judge hongkongers as a whole
Sakio™ BEATZ ya.. i knw how tht feels... been there.. got tht.. i guess maybe their live in a fast pace society.. they dun have time to b polite..
Andrea Tsang I don't think it's just "some" of them. For example, if you have a bad experience in a shop, you will generally say that shop owner is rude. You won't say the people over here are rude. Face it, even some Hong Kongers they themselves mentioned they found the society to be generally "impatient". Not every Hong Kongers are rude but the culture is "fast paced". (Coming from a person who lives in an extremely fast paced yet still friendly society)
Sakio™ BEATZ im hongkong and im kind af
Yes,in fact it's true but only some ..btw some ppl in HongKong ,will charge you more if you are not Cantonese ...it's the truth ?i have experience it a few times edi,it's better to learn it before you go there
I speak manderain in Hong Kong. People are nice to me , I don't feel anything uncomfortable. All the conflict started from those fuckin politicians
This is a very interesting theory that I've tried and tested for myself. I'm from Singapore and I've been to Hong Kong for more than 30 times over the course of the past decade or so. Since many Singaporeans like myself are ethnically Chinese and bilingual (in English and Mandarin Chinese), I've definitely been faced with some subtle discrimination (al beit rarely) when I spoke Mandarin Chinese (many middle-aged or slightly older HKers will immediately assume you're from China just because you speak Mandarin Chinese & based off your appearance) as opposed to English. Of course many people in Hong Kong are more fluent in Mandarin Chinese than in English and you get things done wayyy faster, but the best is to speak Cantonese (if you can) and attempt to pass off as being local.
By the way based on your Mandarin Chinese accent, I think you are from Taiwan?? Like most other Singaporeans my Chinese dialect is 閩南語 or what you call in Taiwan 台語 (it's almost the same dialect), so I can't speak Cantonese either. Hahah I definitely had an easier time in Taiwan though because Taiwanese people tend to switch between Mandarin Chinese and 台語 quite often. At times I really felt sort of "at home" in Taiwan because everyone around me was speaking in a dialect that is also commonly used in Singapore and also one that I could actually understand.
但總體而言我本身還是覺得台灣的本地人比較友善、比較有禮貌！銷售員、保安人員、計程車司機，在問路的時候啊什麼的，本地人都會讓旅客感到賓至如歸的感覺。
而且讓我感到意外驚喜的是，台灣市區的公共廁所都還蠻乾淨的。去過中國大陸的人應該知道，那裡的廁所衛生環境根本比不過台灣。。
I was there in 1992. It was the most unfriendly City I have ever been to! I met some Filipina OFW's and they treated me like I was in their home, and they took me to restaurants and showed me around and they were just workers there. How nice of them!
what it boils down to is this hong kong is very very fast paced and most of the time the ppl are just simply maxxed out,,and they simply don't have time to deal with bullshit,one of the things you'll notice especially in restaurants and fast food joints,they just wanna take your order swiftly then get you your food ,you gotta understand rent is EXTREMELY high there so they need a constant flow of ppl,then you come along speaking english ,then turn and speak perfect chinese,i mean thats just simply taking the piss,am i wrong??
Is the Hong Kong pace as fast as Shenzhen?
It's faster in some ways.
This is nonsense. Hong Kongers are the slowest walking people on earth. They got all the time in the world to just walk around and do shopping. They're not busy by any standards.
Go work in America if you want to see what being truly busy with work looks like.
Being fast paced is an illusion created by the high populaton density in HK. Hong Kongers are also among the rudest people I've come across. They lack compassion and have child-like manners.
+Vertie HKers walk fast..you obviously know shit about HK and thought the truckloads of mainland chinese tourists who has time to go shopping in your tourist districts are local HKers, dumb as fuck....America is a land of slow moving, lazy ass, overweight, every other day is a sick day, I need a break every 5 minute low productivity country compare to the East...stop living in your dream..you're probably living in the 1950s..those days are gone, buddy
They are moody but that does not mean they're bad. Ever got attacked there? do you feel safe there? these are the fundamental questions. You can face and experience the nicest people in the world but their intensions are not always good:)
I've lived in Hong Kong all my life and I feel as if people here are just getting ruder and ruder!
If I'd be going to Shanghai or Shenzhen, should I learn Mandarin, Cantonese or would I survive with English?
The main reason behind was neither mandarin, nor english. Most people in hong kong speak Cantonese! You find them rude simply because you don't understand canto. Basically you don't understand the language and then you read their responses as rudeness. This is like I insist to speak in french in England, and I then call the British rude just simply because no one understands me? It doesn't make sense, right? In fact, most of their responses were just daily conversations. To be honest, they didn't use any rude words at all in their sentences.
You pay five stars price and you get only 3 stars quality in Hong Kong. Go Bali, go thailand, go japan. You will know the value of penny.
LOL, you think you've paid 5 star prices? In Hong Kong, your five star prices aren't even worth 2 stars.
Been to hong kong last year and saw with my own eyes how a person in front of me speaks Mandarin (accent from Mainland china) and was rudely received by the guard but when it's my turn to ask for directions in English the guard suddenly got self conscious and became polite to me....
im a taiwanese american studying in Hong Kong and so far ive been lucky to have encountered ppl who knows english whenever im asking for help. Tho it does help to speak Mandarin when talking to older people and gets things done a lot faster
I think the older generation is somewhat prejudice towards anyone that speaks Mandarin since most Mandarin speakers were from Mainland China. Back in the days, other than Cantonese, English was the second language, not Mandarin. But in todays younger to middle generation, more HK folks have learned Mandarin in school (required by the government), so there are more people that know Mandarin more so than English. Just like in France, a lot of folks have learned English as a second language and are extremely fluent, they would just prefer that you speak to them in French or at least try to when first communicating. Once they figure out you are not a native French speaker (but tried speaking French) and realize that you know English, they usually are very open to start speaking in English to you. Same goes for HK when it comes to speaking Cantonese, English and Mandarin.
Growing up in Hong Kong, the locals are actually nice people, especially the younger generation, since we have better education that practices languages and respect. I see young people giving their seats to elderly on mtr on my way to school daily; I see a lady who picked up my lost mtr card and returned it to me; I see a taxi driver offered to send me to school for free when I was late and rushing in the rain. There are many little things that make me proud of being born in here.
On the other hand, some older generations or people who come from mainland to work in HK, have lower English level (some not all), so they are more comfortable with speaking in Chinese, and hence might be seen as more snobbish to foreigners.
Like some have commented, HK people are surviving rather than living, and their "happiness" rate and economic status are also quite low in comparison with the past due to political events. This has become a factor that makes HK people seem "rude" because we are sad and stressed. Talking fast has become a habit of ours as it is a kind of "city syndrome(?)", but all in all we are nice on the inside.
Elizabeth Matsuu I could see what you described when I was in this nice city 😁
The younger generation is so nice. Look at how nicely they have decorated the city 🤣
i speaked Chinese at a worker in mcdonalds in HK, requesting that i needed a cup of water (which was free), she gave a a dirty look and said "NO more la" Then my friend(who was british) asked, the worker smiled and gave a a cup of water.
Hi, I have a question, I am visiting hongkong this year, does locals speak English? Thanks
Ive travelled to hong kong once and i found out the people there actually are so nice. Especially the younger generations. Once there is a young disabled man try to bring me to the place that i wanted to go and i was so surprised yet thankful as i didn’t realized that he was a disabled at first. The people there also explained everything whenever i asked them and i think it all depends on how you perceived things and your perception towards people
Great idea and very good video!
Thanks MFV!
Hong Kong folks are just rude and I'm Chinese. Although I was born and raised here, I've lived in HK and speak it pretty fluently. They're rude to me no matter what. And in the states, I goto a local dim sum place they're rude to me too. LOL. We just some rude people.
Don’t assume everyone there is rude
Do u know everyone who’s Chinese? I don’t think so.
And you’re the one being rude here🤷♀️
you can’t just assume they’re rude like that. hong kong people are efficient and handle things quick. this is a fast paced city and that’s why they’re grumpy sometimes if you arent following the same pace. they dont have a second to waste.
Yes they do, i was there years back with my friends and when we speak mandarin , they thought we were from mainland and some are really not at all friendly or even seemingly unwelcoming , so we decided to speak english later on when we went somewhere else and dang , my friend told me the lady that was serving him went to the back room to get her colleague to help her out as she could not converse well in English, i was like wtf .
Hi Iris! I dont understand this. Im from Hungary. Why do they even understand Mandarin? Even the older people (above 30) understood and spoke mandarin..
But on official sites they say the majority speaks cantonese.
Does that mean if I learn mandarin fluently i should be able to communicate with Hong Kong people?
Hello everyone, i want to say that my dad comes from Hong Kong but my Mother was grown up in Vietnam and her parents are from China Chaozhou, but my brother and i were born in Austria now i'm 16 and not all hong kongers are rude
We were often in Hong Kong and i know that not all people in HK are rude/mean maybe some people but every country has rude people, and my brother and i mostly speak german together. We were grown up in Austria but we have Hong Kong - Chinese Blood and we have manners, i'm thankful for everything and we (my family) are nice . I know if you have built shit you've to apologize and if you rude sometimes… no matter where you come from or who you are, there are always people who hate you or are mean/rude to you even if you're nice
That's true. It's a shame that there are those rude people out there ruining the fame of HK for all HK people.
When you begin to defend Hong Kong and it’s people, I wonder if you read Chinese, can you read some of the comments written by Hong Kongers here?
There are bad apples everywhere but are you aware of the sheer hate some Hong Kongers possess just because you’re born in China?
They gonna blame it on their society they gonna blame it on politics, but when your mainstream media herald the ‘bravery’ of your own ppl for literally assaulting mainland tourists, there’s something very wrong with your culture. And I have every reason to call it a very rude and disgusting society.
There's also something very wrong with a culture that beats up Hong Kong journalists for inquiring into building safety standards in Sichuan. Even worse when Hong Kong's own government won't defend Hong Kong values, but prefer to lick China's toes and make excuses for such barbarity.
When I stayed in HongKong for almost a month to pursue intensive Fashion Classes. I had a great time. I wouldn't consider hongkongers to be rude... rather I think they just value time very much like gold and they are always busy. I think people from hongkong are nice and some of them would smile a lot too. Most of where I went is at Sheung Wan, Central, Causeway bay and Sham Shui Po maybe different people have different experiences. I lost 3,000 US Dollars but it was returned to me after 5 days when I looked for it at the airport.
I think you're in Bonjour or Sasa, and it's weird that the store assistant walked away from you. They will always try to make you buy something.
I like this. I used to live in Hong Kong. People found it difficult to speak English in shops but over time I learnt a few Cantonese words. Some people are rude but not all. It's just a communication breakdown. I miss Hong Kong often.
Yes I have to agree, knowing Chinese gets things done faster!
💪💪
if you're gonna test it out in a fair way, try asking the same person in two occasions: one english and one mandarin.. now this is more valid test
Very interesting! Happy Monday Beautiful Lady 😘😘😘xox
The staff that run away from you checks out. I used to work with some of them. Some get a problem which is too much hassle and they either run or get someone else to deal with it. Once it is solved they come back and ask the customer if they need help. Some customers called them out for it and said yes, no thanks to you. lol
I'm Hmong-American and speak Mandarin fluently. I've travelled to HK several times in the last 10 years and I can totally tell you I get better treatment when I speak English vs. Mandarin. My Cantonese isn't great but I can get by understand some of it and can say a few words here and there if I need to. My wife is from Chongqing and last time we went to HK together, I told her to speak English with the sales staff at the mall and she said she got treated better. Now the question is, can the HK locals distinguish native English speakers.
I'm sorry, but HK has shit service at the street level...I've been there many times and I can tell you that Guangzhou (both Cantonese) has better service and is more welcoming to outsiders. Too many times have I been treated with a shitty attitude in HK when I spoke in Mandarin. You know how it feels like when someone ignores you when you speak Mandarin but suddenly lights up when you switch to English? Go to HK.
But to be honest, I'd be pissed off too if everyone that comes up to me talks to me in an unintelligible language expecting me to understand every word. So, I wouldn't say that hey're rude, but they can't help but give off a feeling of being superior to their fellow Chinese due to the fact that Westerners don't get this treatment but other Chinese do. Anyways, I guess Mainlanders are most offended seeing another Chinese scorn the use of Mandarin, add these two factors together and you get a deep rift between the Mainland and HK. Taiwanese like myself might fare better but I still get shit service when I speak Mandarin... Thus I give up and just speak English. I'm particularly at fault though for not learning Cantonese, having lived in GZ for so long, lol.
And why that happened ? Because many Hong Kong people were also encountered very rude mainland Chinese tourist. Please don't tell you never saw those mainland Chinese who talk with a loud, demanding voice with a attitude that expresses- I don't a give a shit , you're just a worker who serves me for my money. And because of these experiences many Hong Kong people seeks revenge and will treat them rudely before it happens to them.
+Andrea Tsang I keep reading your posts, stop finding excuses. Being impatient in the service industry is being rude. Period.
I apologize if you feel offended. I went into HK thinking I act better than the average Mainlander and that HK should have higher standards, so it can't be that bad, but I was wrong. Harsh words for harsh treatment, it applies only to service, everything including the food was pleasant otherwise, so don't take it personally.
HongKonger Fighting
粗鲁就是粗鲁 强词夺理 还一直偷换概念
难道香港人对大陆人粗鲁的只有店员？
I'm Korean Chinese.1 year ago I went to HongKong with my friend.We meet the people who is so friendly and guide the right way when we lost the way on the subway station.Actually I really don't know why most of people think they could be make a difference between Chinese and Foreign people.
I think you should go around HK for the experiment because some districts are busy and some are not. People always testing this kind of experiment just in busy places. And observe that HK people are busy. People in my district are kind of relax and helpful
Thats because Hong Kong has been colonized by china for over 20 years. The people in there are the victims of chinese imperialism. 150 chinese are planted to Hong Kong everyday. So what do u expect from them ?
Hong Kong scared me, but I love the foods and city views there!
Because HK is a very fast pace city, if you cant keep up with the pace you're gonna get hear it from the locals:)
HDsharp not faster than shenzhen
I love the food only, city views just so so to me.
It is so depend on which person you are talking to, it is because some of the people don't like to speck or maybe busy. Second, most of the people in Hong Kong are willing to speak English and Cantonese, not a lot of citizens will like to speak Mandarin to others if not necessary. I am a HongKongese and I would like to help everybody when they come over for questions. I think this is kind of a personal habit or what they too used to what they act as the way they lived or maybe they just speak loud because of the working area.
What if I don't sound like I'm from China? Cause I'm from Singapore and I can speak both English and Chinese( Mandarin) , I can't speak Cantonese.... At times I even mix my words...
I only spoke in English when I went to Hongkong many, many years ago, and the men in an airport shop were really rude. When you just looking at their display, they want you to buy their goods straight away. Of course I did not, and they were so rude. A number of times I stopped over in Hongkong during my trips, and observe people's faces, nobody ever smile.
What even is this video for, making no senses. Hongkong people are not rude as u think
I had a few problems near causeway bay with people ignoring me. Tung Chung was way better with hikers saying hello and things. Mainlander tourists at Avenue of stars responded to me even though they didn't know English. HK police are friendly too
Yes! I found their police officers quite friendly and helpful! Can't disagree with you on the people ignoring part.. but I rather believe that they just didn't hear me or have fears speaking to strangers lol
I'm American and I've lived in both Hong Kong and mainland China and the way Hong Kong people treat or think of mainlanders is very sad to me. In my country we are taught to see people as individuals, and not judge people based on generalizations and stereotypes, most of which are untrue. Coming here and seeing so much flat out racism, and yes, racism is exactly what it is, regardless of it they are from the same race or not, is just so disappointing to me. Treat people how you want to be treated, with compassion, empathy, and a open mind.
As with any societies, there are bound to be some bad apples. Some Hongkongers are well mannered and some are rude and bad-tempered. My first time in HK was marred by a bad encounter. I was angrily scolded by an elderly taxi driver when I asked him to stop at a certain section of a road because it was forbidden to alight there. In Malaysia we can literally request taxi drivers to stop anywhere. Those Hongkongers that beat up Mandarin speaking people were people afflicted with psychotic and antisocial disorders.
Dude, if you tell a taxi driver to alight at a yellow line, he might as well get fined with hundreds of dollars. Many jobs in Hong Kong have low wages, you're basically telling him to lose his salary. Hypocrite
dude!srsly it is just culture,it is no positive or negative,it is just another side!
they are poor and they work very hard! if you know cantonese well and you know their lives well(like my dad) you can actually put up a nice conversation
@maxdc4047
Maybe it’s the stress of living in a inhumane tiny apartments.
I went to Hong Kong to get my Canadian visa in 2003. I spoke Mandarin to Hong Kongers. The experience was unpleasant. No desire to go back and visit there!
Thanks and pls don’t come anymore!
I hold a SG passport at the age of 2. I lived in HK until Secondary school. Then moved to SG for O and A's. Followed by Uni in UK. Any questions, feel free to ask (in a polite manner).
What if you are a Mandarin speaker from Taiwan or Singapore?
to my travelling experiences in hong kong,the peoples' manner were even worst during the colonial times,somehow there was improvment after the financial crisis 2008,but as a whole still way behind taiwan,japan,s'pore or even many asean countries .
Nothing can change their manners
真心唔明你攪咩春？
yuisanjpearthquake 我真心不知道你们滴港愤整天想着赶而不知道去教，赶不走可以教化噶
In thé asian country where the social hypocrisy was the most priority of the conception.
phil phil look down your mouth we do not welcome the people like you
phil phil From what language did you Google translate these from?
phil phil learn to speak english first
Honestly, I gotta say I don't see much difference other than people who are approached with English speaking as wanting to back away first. This is pretty typical in every majority non-English speaking country I have visited, Hong Kong included. The idea that I and my friends have come up with is that English being a second or possible third language for many of those who do speak it is not as fluent and widely understood so they aren't able to practice with natives in their home nation, thus, they may be embarrassed or put on the spot and fumble around with the words a bit. I do the same when I am forced to speak Swedish, Hebrew, Spanish, or French myself. But no, I see no differences other than that in this video. Quite frank, Im so accustomed to this behavior of people when I speak English that it hasn't really bothered me.
I went to HK with my sister and some people are very rude..I don't speak chinese or cantonese so it was so hard for us . Even the receptionist in the hotel wasn't smiling.
I'm Hong Kong and we respect both
Travelled to Hong Kong a lot of times for SAT during my high school, spoke Mandarin and always got super friendly help from locals! For a lot of times they even took me to the places I asked about! As a mainlander I always love how welcoming most Hong Kong people are! 😘
Rosie Xu no...most of Hong Kong ppl are hate main lander so much, please get out of our city.
Lai Yi Tam
Enjoy your freedom while you can! Only 30 years left before the Hong Kong flag is replaced by the Chinese flag 🇨🇳
[Insert Name Here] let's see.... I bet u already died
Lai Yi Tam i bet you are one of those loser doesn't make any contribution to the society but only barking all the time. and btw, hk is always a city of China, no one can't change, because China is too strong, no other countries or person on this planet can change this.
From my experience, I observed that it is simply in their culture. They are not trying to be rude, but rather they are too impatient and do not usually want to wait for us to think and decide on our own slow pace. We visited a congee shop for four consecutive days we were there (yes it was that delicious) and it went from a fast paced, impatient ordering system to a friendly "hey, what do you want?" and wanting to know where we came from and how my boyfriend spoke Cantonese (fluent enough for them to understand, but not 100% sure it was right). At other locations we have only been to once, they are just as impatient, especially at popular food locations. At some shops that are not so crowded, when we tried to speak in English or mandarin, depending on which language they understood, they tend to be less impatient. As to countries like Japan, that a number of people mentioned as a polite country with great services, we saw and experienced Japanese who were rude once they know we were foreigners, Japanese who spit on the floor, threw rubbish on the floor, and those who pushed one another out of the way when it was crowded. There is the culture in every country, and the better or worse people who come out of the same culture. So since we are in a different country, learn their culture and see if it fits us. If it doesn't, travel to a different country in the future or try to give it a second chance before making a decision! My first trip to Japan was horrible, but my second one improved and the third was the best. My second trip to Taiwan had me experience a group of Taiwanese who might have tried cheating me of my money... so treat every trip as a learning experience. :)
Ms IrisVirus do you know why Cantoneses is considered " Tong Language " because it was widely used in the Tong Dyasty. Manderine is just a mixture of nomads' languages created after Manchurians conquered China.
Don't ask a local for directions most of them will ignore you if you need directions ask a shopkeeper or the MTR staff they are quite helpful.
I've been there a few days ago thats true
I guess why the HK people don’t like mainlanders is because of the 水貨客 or whatever
Because mainlanders do not have basic manners, such as waiting in line and not pooping on the ground in public.
I was In Hong Kong twice in 2016 & 17 and didn’t experience not one conflict in the language barrier and I’m South African very hospitable people. On my way to the airport a old Chinese lady guided me to the correct bus stop to the airport as I was standing at the wrong stop,she spoke in her language but showed me where I had to stand for my ride to the airport.🇿🇦❤️🇨🇳
I got scammed by taxi driver in Hong Kong. He drove the long route and charged me extra. I could have reported him but since I didn’t know how much it was supposed to be and it was night time that I couldn’t see his license.
Excellent video. The adventure of walking up the mountain with the Alpine Climate was very courageous, even when the police office advised against it. But do you really speak mainland mandarin? People in Hong Kong and mainland China should be able to hear you're speaking the Taiwanese dialect, no? Or maybe they can hear that you've been spending much time in Canada? I'm so confused about all these dialects and regions of China, I really don't know what kind of dialects all the people in these regions speak. Again kudos to the police officer who really sounded like your dad warning you that the road up the mountain is slippery! ;-)
Haha I know! The police officer was my favourite too! And to tell you the truth.. we gave up half way up the sloping pathway due to the lack of breakfast prior to the walk 😅 You know what? That will be my next video idea when I go back to Hong Kong or visit China for the first time. I actually have no clue if they could tell I'm from Taiwan by the accent! I know people from Mainland China thinks people from Taiwan have a softer accent but I'm not sure if they can hear the difference if I just spoke to them out of the blue 🤔
I could hear your taiwanese accent quite clearly, so that could have been a factor!
+sharonmalu busted 😨
3:40 That's a pretty inconsiderate thing to ask honestly. If I were there server, I would've told you all, "Ma'am, our kitchen staff is not going to change their operating tempo simply because you are unable to manage your time appropriately." Lol!
Actually when i was in a tour at HK with my family when we are already going to Phil for going somewhere a girl working from a nice hotel where we stay scolded us for not sitting properly and also the boy in there is polite he didnt got mad but the woman got mad
Woah! I remember this place!!!! Woah cool!!!
Haha, I have done similar things, I will speak English, Mandarin, Cantonese, their attitude will really be different. Hong Kong is more free than the mainland, but his people are closed. They do not understand the changes in the mainland society.Therefore, even if I and they have a similar Lingnan cultural background and the same mother tongue, I still look down on most of the people of Hong Kong. Lol
I live in Shenzhen, just next to Hong Kong
Sorry manilanders are still backwards. Yes HK people can be snobbish but its them who are more civilised.
Yes, big changes in China's society, like even more clamp down on freedom of speech, increasing technological surveillance of expression and movement, thuggish tactics against perceived enemies, increasing pressure to express blind subservience to the party, and oh let's not forget unlimited terms of power for the dictator. Such progress.
+FleshRebellion so let’s just conveniently choose to ignore that a billion people were lifted out of poverty in the span of three decades. No one in China is starving anymore like they used to and the majority of young people gain university level educations. People now have the disposable income to raise pets and take care of stray dogs and cats, as well as travel. There’s a push for environmental conservation and for a decrease in carbon emissions. The attitudes in China have changed drastically even in the last decade, humanitarianism is on the rise and many are choosing to pursue the arts. My friend, that IS progress and choosing to ignore it makes you sound very close-minded. Political change will come slowly and in a way that benefits Chinese society, the Chinese understand that an upheaval of the political system would lead to chaos in China. No matter what outsiders say, the Chinese know what’s best for them for the time being.
Valerie Ssk How rose tinted. Deng Xiaopeng's policy helped by HK and Taiwan investors lifted China out of abject poverty. Xi Jinping is reviving Mao style clamp downs and political purges. Just as economic changes happened with lightning speed, social mores are also changing extremely rapidly. The disturbing amount of blind nationalistic fervour is sweeping across China when a few years ago it was unfashionable to do so. There continue to be workers in the lower classes conveniently moved about and deported between cities when workers are needed, and sent back to whichever villages either because of economic declines in some sectors (a worldwide phenomenon) or political expediencies (like Olympic games and such face lifting events), infinitely worsened by the hukou system which institutionalises the inequities of the capitalist market.
I have been hk many times, and i like hk, i have meet countlessbof people, some are friendly and nice people, but very high percentage are damn rude, rough, and unwilling to render help to tourist, even just asking for direction, teksi driver, waiter, waitress, 8 out of 10 are impolite.
Well , maybe is the stress level, they have to face everday.
Hope they will improve.
Love hk
is it true that the english pronunciation of most hong kong people are hard to understand?
Never been to HK before. I'm a Malaysian Chinese. I can converse in English, Mandarin and Cantonese. I wish I could experience their attitude when I'm changing my language wherever I having the conversation with the locals haha.
Exactly!Especially when you speak Mandarin.
Cantonese is always the best option in Hong Kong. even if you only know some basic phrases .
BTW, when you speak mandarin , we don’t respond so well ,simply because many of us DO NOT speak and DO NOT understand mandarin good enough.
Not because the discrimination!
A lot of people think they’re rude most of the time because of the way they talk, I was born in an English speaking country but my family speaks cantonese and my parents are not very fluent in English but they know mandarin very well because they are from Guangdong, but cantonese as a whole is a really sharp language and it doesn’t flow the same way mandarin does. People from hong kong or guangdong often don’t speak the way fluent mandarin speakers do so they sound ruder because of the cantonese influence.
In my experience, they're not necessarily nicer to Mandarin speaking folks. They are just more able to communicate w/ them. It depends where you go in HK. If you go to the mall, especially higher end places like Lane Crawford or East Tsim Sha Tsui area where there are fancy hotels, staff working there treat you better if you speak English than when you speak Mandarin. If you go to more local places where people don't really know English, they either avoid you or walk away because they seem to be more avoidant to interact w/ English speakers. Also I understand Cantonese so I hear a lot of local HK people make fun or talk negatively about mainland Chinese.
I got many people whom told me that people are in Hong Kong are rude whenever if you speak any mandarin. However, for being afraid to get a bad treatment before even I want to have conversation with them, I will tell them "I am from Malaysia!" then bla bla bla bla bla bla lol. People in Hong Kong are FRIENDLY!!! ^_^
其实那我挺喜欢香港有些人爱理不理的服务态度的 因为我好怕去店里的时候整天推销东西和去吃饭的时候整天来问你吃得怎么样的服务人员😂
I was in Boston and saw a HK girl smoking. I went to her and asked if I could borrow her lighter, and she said "Sorry, I don't date Asian."
Thank you !