Living Housing is a perpetual problem for teachers in Hong Kong. While senior staff receive a housing allowance, most English language teachers struggle with high rents for cramped quarters. In centrally located districts such as Midlevels you should expect to pay around GBP 1000 for a habitable 550-700 sq. Eating out and drinking in Hong Kong can be fun but expensive. All major cuisine from around the world are represented in the hundred of restaurants in Lan Kwai Fong, Kowloon and Wanchai, as well as some of the less well-known such as Burmese and Nepalese.
Cantonese food is very good and Sundays are great for checking out the various dim sum restaurants.
And whereas Chinese people are less inclined to drink heavily at the weekends, the western-style bars are crammed full, especially Friday nights during Happy Hours. If you don't drink and you eat at home, Hong Kong is an affordable place to live. Shopping for food is cheap if you stick to the local markets, but if you're squeamish about watching vendors chop off the legs of live frogs or cut open live fish, use the two major supermarket chains, Parknshop and Wellcome, both very affordable. Public transport is easy to use, cheap and clean, and basic utilities such as water, gas and electricity are also reasonable. Chinese students are relatively passive when compared to their European or South American counterparts.