Volume 1 - Hong Kong Car Culture 101

Discover the Real Hong Kong with Jamie

18 Personalised Car Vanity Plates in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Culture 101

I am a leading expert in Hong Kong on the Car Vanity Plate Culture which garners worldwide attention particularly at Chinese New Year in Hong Kong.

I do not want to duplicate information listed in my extensive guide (see link above) however there are some things that you need to know. The Hong Kong Government being the Hong Kong Government does not call them vanity plates or licence plates for some odd reason.

There are 2 main categories

TVRM - Traditional Vehicle Registration Marks

PVRM - Pesonalised Vehicle Registration Marks

So here goes

• Traditional marks are licence plates that are just numbers, letters with numbers (maximum 2 letters and 4 numbers) and just single letters these marks have been sold at Auction since 1973 - prior to that you were assigned the licence plate randomly by the Transport Department, AA + Numbers and XX + Numbers along with just Numbers came prior to 1973.

• Personalised marks are licence plates that are NOT any of the above categories, it can be pretty much anything you want as long as it is no longer than 8 letters | numbers without spacing, so it can be all letters or all numbers or a mix - these marks have been sold at Auction since 2006 and have proven to be very popular, although you cannot use the letters i, o or q so it does lead to some bizarre combinations on plates

• Certain registration marks are assigned for Government vehicles such as AM F LC and the mark ZG is assigned to Chinese Military Vehicles

Hong Kong is famous for car enthusiasts and social media sites have spawned a huge amount of people who take a couple of hundred images of car licence plates, post them and then just lose interest, there are very few people like myself who have a real passion for this interesting subject, it really is Hong Kong Culture 101.

Interestingly I find that the Foreign Press and the Local Press only seem to concentrate on the personalised plates that are funny and yet the real culture behind licence plates in Hong Kong is LUCKY Numbers and that has always been my primary interest. click on the 2 links above and learn more.

So the purpose of this blog post is to introduce you to the PVRM plates, this is Volume 1 and yes, some of them really do make you laugh.

The image is really a visual only thing unless I need to explain for context purposes.

You will notice that on a lot of the plates it states I instead of 1 - the letter i in capitals is illegal but it seems as if the Government is willing to turn a blind eye - you will note that the BADA BING plate just looks wrong using the 1 instead of i and there is no spacing between BADA and BING - again the Government should allow up to 10 letters | numbers instead of the current 8 with no spaces… just a personal opinion.

All of the pictures are my own, sadly a lot of collators of Hong Kong Licence Plates on Faceboox, X, Instagram are not fussy about photo quality, I am and very much so., blurry images taken with a smart phone make me break out in a cold sweat.

This is simply a hobby for me, I do NOT sell my images and all of my images can be FREELY downloaded from my image site in the original upload image size or 5 other sizes, please note that you DO NOT have to ask for permission to download and use any of my images! just go to my site menu link above and click on J3 Hong Kong Images, there are over 167,000 images.

J3 Group Hong Kong

J3 Consultants Hong Kong | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong

J3 Consultants Private Hong Kong Experience is tailored for individuals who prefer to explore Hong Kong independently, without joining any guided tours.

This unique experience offers an authentic insight into the real Hong Kong, providing a deeper understanding of the city's culture, history, and local way of life.

Led by Jamie, a dedicated Hong Kong specialist and resident for 52 years, the experience covers many aspects of Hong Kong's identity, spanning its time under both British and Chinese rule.

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Jamie, your friend in Hong Kong

52 years living in Hong Kong, our family arrived on January 2nd 1972

I have lived here for 25 years under British Rule, 27 years under Chinese Rule

I have 45 years of Business Consultancy experience in Hong Kong

My wife is a local & has lived her entire life in Hong Kong, her first language is Cantonese

We have 3 Adult sons all born and educated in Hong Kong, 2 still live in Hong Kong

I pioneered the Private Tour Industry in Hong Kong in 2010

2,324 completed award winning Private Tours of Hong Kong from 2011 - 2020

……and yes, I am a bit of an expert on the Hong Kong car culture!

© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Consultants Hong Kong | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | | 2011 - 2024.

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