HONG KONG’S 7-ELEVEN CULTURE

The other morning I set an alarm to wake up extra early. As I reluctantly sauntered out of bed into our freezing, concrete apartment, I forced myself to get dressed and head downstairs.

Why?

To get in line at 7-Eleven!

Hong Kong

Maybe it’s because Hong Kongers are always on the go, but in Hong Kong, 7-Eleven is more popular than Starbucks. After Macau, Hong Kong is the second most dense market for 7-Eleven. I don’t know why they even have a store locator on their website, because you can’t go more than a block without finding one.

My neighborhood has 10 alone… 10! 

Unlike in the US, 7-Eleven is more than just your average convenience store.

Some amazing things you can do at 7-Eleven in Hong Kong include: collecting packages, buying SIM cards for your phone, buying tickets to theme parks or tourist attractions, using free WIFI*, charging your electronics, topping up your Octopus Card, paying any and all bills, and even paying your taxes.

Of course you can buy snacks and drinks here like anywhere else in the world, but you can also buy hot food as well. If you’re looking for a cheap dinner, you’ll find a wide-variety of noodle dishes, as well as all the popular types of Hong Kong street foods and dim sum all behind one convenient counter. Want dessert? You can buy cakes, soft-serve ice cream, and tropical Slurpee flavors like mango.

If you’re looking for a cheap place to go out drinking on a Saturday night you can hit up, yup, 7-Eleven. Dubbed ‘Club 7’ by both locals and expats, it’s common to see people hanging out and drinking in 7-Elevens on the weekend, especially the one located in Lan Kwai Fong.

Hong Kong

7-Eleven carries a wide variety of beer, wine and hard liquor for less than one-third the price you’d buy it for at the bar next door. It’s like a rite of passage to stand around drinking in ‘Club 7’, and somehow it’s always someplace that expats find themselves at within one of their first nights abroad.

My favorite thing about 7-Eleven in Hong Kong is all of their crazy promotions. Basically, for every certain amount you spend, you are rewarded tiny stickers. If you don’t lose all of them like I do, you can redeem them for various prizes of sorts later on. There are even limited edition prizes that are released on a certain time and date.

Hong Kong

So far, most of the prizes have been based off popular anime series, Sanrio characters, Disney characters, and everything else cute in the world that I’m a sucker for.

But in Hong Kong, everyone is a sucker for cute things, so by the time I went downstairs there was already a huge line forming to redeem stamps for this year’s limited edition Chinese New Year Sanrio toys.

Hong Kong

Last year we were hoping to redeem our stamps for a limited edition Valentine’s Day Hello Kitty, but within 10 minutes the line was gone and all stores in our neighborhood were sold out. So this year, I set my alarm and braved the cold to ensure we could collect our prize… but at least I got my toys!

Hong Kong - Chinese New Year

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF 7-ELEVEN?


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