Miranda F

I am currently in the UK, but poised to take up a new position in Hong Kong and hope to be travelling there very soon with my 5 year old daughter. I am very excited by the prospect and have heard great things about life in Hong Kong for families. I am looking at schools and areas to live and am hoping to reside on or near the coast.

However, I am experiencing significant resistance to my daughter being in Hong Kong with me, from her father, on the basis of pollution and the effect on her health. She is perfectly fit and well by the way.

I would be eternally grateful if those of you there now, or who have lived in Hong Kong, could from 1st hand experience, help me and inform this issue between us...?

ex reg

Air polution in HK can be very high and dangerous at times.

penguinsix

Air pollution is kind of like the weather--there are days you don't send them out to play.

Most of the international schools have pollution standards for outdoor activities. If it is too high (usually in the Winter) then the kids will be kept indoors. That said, the standard they use from the HK government is well-below the standard you would see used in the UK. When HK says is is "moderate" the UK would be on a high-level of "keep elderly and children indoors".

I wrote an iPhone app that allows you to see the Hong Kong air pollution but based on Western standards.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hong-...6152?ls=1&mt=8

Basically my advice is this: you can try to minimize the pollution levels for your kids through a combination of air filters in the home, restricted activity on certain days, and living arrangements away from certain parts of town. But if you are in a situation already where the child is having respiratory issues at present, then the issue isn't where to live in Hong Kong but whether or not you should even come.