Weather

Hong Kong is hot and humid in the summer, average temperature is around 28 degrees Celsius or 82 degrees Fahrenheit.
June is the rainy season in Hong Kong, umbrellas are often handy.

Given the hot and humid weather, air conditioning is often quite cool in Hong Kong. Light cardigans or jackets are handy for visitors.

Banking

There is only one small bank (opens Mon – Fri only) on Lingnan campus equipped with 1 ATM. The bank only provides limited foreign exchange service for major currencies such as US dollars, Euros, British Pounds, Australian dollars with a service charge per transaction.  It is advisable for conference participants to obtain Hong Kong dollars at their home country before departure to Hong Kong, or change their home currencies to Hong Kong dollars at the Hong Kong International Airport.

Octopus Card – stored value card

Conference participants are advised to obtain an Octopus Card for convenience of their stay in Hong Kong. Octopus Card is a handy alternative to cash for small payments.  It is widely accepted in Hong Kong in almost all public transport, fast food chains, convenience stores, vending machines and university campus canteen where meals will be served during the Conference. 

Visitors may obtain Octopus Cards at customer service centres of all train stations and the Airport Express Line customer service centre at the Hong Kong International Airport.  The minimum initial value of an Octopus Card is HK$150 (US$19.20) inclusive of HK$50 deposit for the card and HK$100 stored value. Upon return to the customer service centres at the train stations or the Airport Express Line at the airport, the HK$50 deposit and the unspent stored value on the card will be refunded with a small handling fee of HK$7 (US$0.9).

Stored value of the Octopus Card can be topped up at train stations, fast food chains and convenience stores, and the balance value is shown each time the card is used.