For a country filled with giant skyscrapers and busy cities, it's essential to master reading addresses. If you are interested in that, let's learn how to read addresses in Cantonese in today's post!
Writing addresses is one of the essential things you need to learn in life but sometimes, it's been taken for granted. Some people might also get confused writing their address, so how much more when you do it in a foreign language, especially Chinese characters? Today, we will learn how to read addresses in Cantonese. Let's see how well you can do when you have to read an address written in Chinese characters.
Hong Kong is officially known as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. Therefore, Hong Kongers also use Chinese characters in writing addresses. But, Hong Kong has its postal system and customs area, despite being a special region inside the People's Republic of China. As a result, mail delivered to Hong Kong should be addressed to Hong Kong, not China.
This is very important to learn, especially if you're planning to live in Hong Kong for a very long time or if you'll do business with companies in Hong Kong. A Hong Kong address includes the following:
1. Name of the addressee
2. Flat and Floor numbers
3. Building name
4. Building number and name of the street
5. Village name, town, or district (written in capital letters)
6. (Optional depending on destination) HONG KONG, KOWLOON, or NEW TERRITORIES as appropriate (in CAPITAL LETTERS).
7. (At least if the previous line was not HONG KONG) HONG KONG (in CAPITAL LETTERS to show the 'destination country.')
Now that you have learned the basic format of an address in Hong Kong, here are some things that you should remember. If you have successfully mastered how to read addresses in Cantonese/Chinese, asking and giving directions would also be a piece of cake. Remember to correct addressing matters in sending mail, especially if you're sending an international mail, so learning this is essential. It will also be helpful when you want to deliver something or know where a certain place is located.
There's an easy way to correct addressing. You can choose between the Hongkong Post website and Hongkong Post Mobile App. It is developed to assist the general public in quickly determining the proper address format for local mail. You may also print the address on envelopes and address labels for mailing or other uses with the application.
But of course, even if you have a convenient way of correct addressing, you still need to learn how to read and write addresses manually. Here is more information that you need to learn for beginners.
Hong Kong addresses are not as complicated as addresses in Mainland China. Here is the basic information that the Hong Kong address contains:
An apartment, also known as a flat, is a self-contained living unit located on the first floor of a building. It is important to include the flat and floor number in the address because there are many flats in Hong Kong, including those nano flats, which will continue to increase through the years.
Hong Kong is also known for its buildings and skyscrapers. For residential buildings, they have flats, apartments, and other residential buildings like the Monster Building. Here are some examples of building names in Hong Kong:
Hong Kong has one of the busiest cities in the world. If you are writing or reading an address, indicate the right city. Here are a few examples of cities in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Island
Kowloon And New Kowloon
New Territories
Hong Kong is divided into three administrative regions and 18 eighteen districts. Hong Kong Island (HK), Kowloon (KLN), and the New Territories are the three regions.
New Territories
Kowloon
Hong Kong Island
In writing an address in China, you need to split it into two lines; in Hong Kong address, you don't need that unless you write it for a mail, then you will split it into five (5) lines.
When you are writing the address for mailing someone in Hong Kong, there's one box that you can't fill out, and that is the postal code. Unlike Mainland China, postcodes aren't used in Hong Kong. China post uses the domestic postal code 999077, while Hong Kong has no postcodes (no postal codes) at this time.
It's crucial to specify whether you're sending a letter to mainland China or Taiwan if you're sending one from another country. It's crucial to identify whether you're sending a letter to mainland China or Taiwan if you're sending one from another country. Use either “P. R. China” or “ROC Taiwan” to ensure that it will be sent to the right place. It's quite acceptable to format and write the address in English when mailing a letter to Hong Kong.
Exploring Hong Kong is incredible. After learning how to read addresses in Cantonese, you might want to learn more because there's so much more to discover. Learning the language should be on your list. This is the gateway to learning more about the country, the culture, and the people. Luckily, Ling App can help you with that.
With Ling App, you can choose any topic you like and learn it fun and convenient way. You'll be motivated to learn with the fun mini-games and quizzes. You will also improve your language skills with well-developed features like dialogues, a spaced-repetition system, and a speech recognition system.
Do not miss this opportunity to learn Cantonese innovatively. Just search and download the app or go to the website to start your first Cantonese lesson now!
