Ordinary Gweilo

If you move from the UK to Hong Kong, many things about driving can seem very familiar (driving on the left, road signs and markings, etc.).  This can be deceptive.

One obvious difference is that in the UK (and many other countries), on-street parking is allowed everywhere except where there are restrictions (normally indicated by yellow or red lines).  In Hong Kong, it is prohibited (on all roads with street lighting) except where it is specifically allowed.  Yellow lines are used to indicate whether you are allowed to stop, rather than (as in the UK) when you can park.

This seems to catch out expats, who whinge about not being allowed to pay at place X (where X is usually a school, the beach, or in the countryside) where there are no yellow lines.  In fact, you may get away with it if the location is fairly remote, but that only makes people more annoyed when they do finally get a parking ticket.  There were recently a couple of letters to Talkback in the SCMP on this subject. 

I can’t find this information on the Transport Department website, but it is clearly stated in the ‘Road Users’ Code’ that is given out when you collect your Hong Kong Driving licence.

Conversely, as far as I am aware it is legal to "feed" parking meters in Hong Kong, whereas it is illegal in the UK.  In fact, the Transport Department has a long explanation of what happens when you pay for more time.