The Languages of Hong Kong
Despite the handover of Hong Kong from British to Chinese sovereignty, English remains an official language in the territory, together with Cantonese. All street signs continue to be written in both English and Chinese characters. Street names have not been changed since the handover.
English is widely spoken, since it is the language of business and commerce, though the majority of citizens are much more comfortable with Cantonese. However, you are unlikely to encounter many difficulties with communicating in English either in hotels or with business contacts.
The majority of the population are native Cantonese speakers. The Cantonese dialect is a harsh-sounding, guttural and tonal language that is almost impossible for most visitors to attempt without considerable prior knowledge. As a general rule, most of the younger generation can speak English, while the older generation may be less fluent in it.
Since many people have been brought up in bilingual society, they hop from one language to another almost without realizing it. As more and more people are familiar with English, it has become easier to simply incorporate words into the language rather than attempting any complicated translations to Chinese.
Mandarin Chinese (also known as standard Chinese or putonghua) is the principal language of mainland China and is becoming more prevalent, through you will still stand more chance of being understood if you speak to a Hong Kong Chinese resident in English than in Mandarin.
At the immigration department, notices and announcements are also given in Tagalog and Thai, reflecting the increasing number of South East Asian migrant workers in the territory.