Walking around town, the signs are obvious: from shops that gladly accept Chinese Yuan cash for the goods they sell, to the money changers which now ALL display the Hong Kong dollar / Chinese Yuan cross-rate much more prominently than the US dollar / Hong Kong dollar cross rate.

 

In many ways, this is a live economic experiment.

Hong Kong has long had one of the world’s freest, most sophisticated economies; residents are free to choose what currency to accept (and save), whether HK dollars, US dollars, Chinese Yuan, gold, or anything else.

Multi-currency bank accounts are the rule rather than the exception here, and you can switch freely between all of them with a few mouse clicks, or phone call. This is one of the reasons why Simon has always been so keen to recommend banking in Hong Kong.