Book Jamie‛s Hong Kong Talking Tour instead!

Me Jamie, English and 52 years living in Hong Kong and I know the know the place - I personally completed 2,324 Private Tours (6,000+ guests) from 2011 - 2020 and was considered one of the finest Private Tour Guides in Asia.

**A blog post with a difference - Please do visit Hong Kong in 2024 | Travel, Tourism, Tours, Tips, Daily Life and my personal thoughts on Hong Kong - Pearl of the Orient**

A Unique Talking Tour of Hong Kong with Jamie, your passionate Hong Kong local expert, host and storyteller with 2,324 Private Tours of Hong Kong completed.

Book Now | A Talking Tour - Cultural Tourism at it’s very best

Learn more | The Day I did a Private Tour of Hong Kong with famous Princess

J3 Private Hong Kong Experiences

A Unique Talking Tour of Hong Kong | Premium Speaking Engagement with a long time resident of 52 years.

Cultural Tourism at it’s very best

A new way to discover Hong Kong - and quite different from taking a Big Bus Tour of Hong Kong Island

Learn about the unbiased, real Hong Kong | forget what you read in the press!

**Big Bus Tours** | Is this really how you want to discover one of the World’s Great Cities?

So what does an award winning Private Tour Guide in Hong Kong do when health issues force him into early retirement? I am 63 and my mind is still as sharp as a tack so I still have plenty to offer and let’s face it, part of my charm is my ability to tell the Hong Kong story in 2 - 3 hours!

Let me make it perfectly clear, I am not in a wheelchair, I do not need a walking stick, I can get about but it is simply not possible for me to do a private walking tour of Hong Kong because I cannot walk for any great length of time and that is that and talk about frustrating but I am able to sit and talk or stand and talk.

For a retired Private Tour Guide I am still quite obsessed with giving my talking tour guests a premium experience, visiting Hong Kong is not just about seeing the sites | sights, I need to get across the Hong Kong story, Hong Kong is one of the World’s great cities and you need someone who has lived here for over 50 years to help you understand the place.

A lot of my friends have told me to consider doing car tours but that will never happen, I am absolutely not a fan of car tours and I only ever did a couple and I swore I would never do another one, I understand why guests might want to do car tours and many of my close friends in the business offer them, great for them. Personally, something gets lost with a car tour, to understand Hong Kong Culture you really have to see it on foot and use Public Transport, it is such a fabulous experience, in addition I have always been uncomfortable discussing Hong Kong in a car with a “local driver” so to speak who might take offence to my gritty and hard hitting views on Hong Kong which are the product of living here for 52 years, I like to speak my mind and that is how and why I did 2,324 Private Tour of Hong Kong.

I am a pioneer of Private Tours in Hong Kong, I researched for most of 2010, put up a decent website and got my first tour in April 2011, I was the first and my friends soon followed.

Back in 2011 no one really understood the concept of a Private Walking Tour of Hong Kong, on foot using Public Transport and no one even thought for a moment it might actually be something that people where interested in doing, boy, where they wrong.

Full circle and post Covid and with the likes of Online Travel Agencies (OTA) expanding and growing rapidly we now have a situation where there are literally hundreds if not thousands of tours available to do in Hong Kong on the likes of Viator, Tripadvisor, Klook, Get Your Guide and such with very variable quality and quite often, quite mediocre tour guides.

I have written extensively about this, simply go to the blog post section of this site on the menu link and see all of my recent posts.

It is estimated that there will be roughly 45 - 50 million travellers that will come to Hong Kong in 2024 as the recovery process post Covid gains momentum and roughly 80% of these will be from Mainland China, that still means potentially millions of tourists visiting Hong Kong who may well be keen on doing a private tour or any sort of tour for that matter….. or hopefully a Talking Tour Experience…

Or Not

The Big Bus Company Hong Kong | Tripadvisor Reviews

Learn more | The Big Bus Co. Tours Hong Kong Tripadvisor Tours

I am aiming my experiences at those travellers who come to Hong Kong who for whatever reason do not book a tour and wish to explore Hong Kong on their own or perhaps are too busy to fit in a 6 - 8 hour or they are simply not here for long enough, it can be hard to fit in tours if you are only here for 1 - 2 days and the Big Bus Tour does offer some great routes, I really can see the appeal for a lot of tourists.

I have absolutely got nothing against the Big Bus Tour Company in Hong Kong (or it’s competitors) they have a niche in the market and that niche is also the one I am looking to get a toehold into, that’s right guests who have limited time available in Hong Kong.

The Big Bus Company has been in Hong Kong since 2008, so 16 years, long enough you would have thought to iron out any issues they might have, you would have thought, sadly every year that goes by is another ground hog day, nothing really improves, nothing changes, guests complain about the same things and Customer Service has offered the same responses for 16 years and yet as mentioned nothing changes, it is hard not come away with the feeling that the Big Bus Company simple does not care.

What competition does the Big Bus Tour have? well in a nutshell they have one competitor, which is an offering called the “Rickshaw Bus” which is owned and operated by one of our franchised bus companies, Citybus. Frankly and I have done it a few times, it is simply embarrassing, because these two bus tour companies have NO quality competition there is little or no incentive to improve.

Learn more | The Rickshaw Bus Tours Hong Kong Tripadvisor Reviews

I have deliberately NOT mentioned the Crystal Bus as a competitor as it is not, it is basically a restaurant on wheels and it appears it holds little appeal for travellers.

Learn more | Crystal Bus Tours Hong Kong Tripadvisor Reviews

I often wondered in moments of clarity at what I would do if I was the General Manager of the Company, surely he or she cannot be satisfied with an average 4 star rating on Tripadvisor - unfortunately they seem to have the same issues in a lot of cities they run tours (25+ at last count), Singapore is a bit of a disaster and then I realised after days reading Tripadvisor Reviews and such that some of the big issues in Hong Kong they probably have no control over and are at the mercy of the Hong Kong Government and the somewhat draconian rules and petty regulations relating to offering bus services and tours.

The problems they have with bus frequency, signage on the streets etc may not ever be solved because of heavy handed Government bureaucracy but a major issue they have which has been a problem for many years is the quality of the audio on the bus, I have done Big Bus Tours in Hong Kong and the audio quality is quite poor, the information is not detailed enough and is out of sync with what you might be seeing from the upper deck of the bus, syncing I imagine is linked to bus speed and all drivers drive at different speeds and traffic conditions may well have an impact as well, it is a real issue.

I also have to laugh at disgruntled guests who when writing reviews suggest that people make use of Hong Kong’s famous public transport system, ie the subway and our buses.

Sound advice but not for a person visiting Hong Kong for the first time, people will no doubt think that a smart phone and the right apps and google maps will sort you out transport wise, well it will be a pretty dumb move given the sheer complexity of the Hong Kong Public Transport system and how you pay for it. For me I have never owned a car I have relied on buses and the subway for 50+ years now it is not as easy to figure out as people think, if it was, The Big Bus Co. would not have any customers!

I must stress that the Big Bus Co. plays a major role in Hong Kong Tourism, it deals with thousands of people every day and for that they cannot be faulted, the routes they have on Hong Kong Island are just fine but for 16 years now they have had the same issues, they welcome feedback, they promise to make changes and yet nothing changes, it is a shame really.

**The Big Bus Co. Hong Kong**

The Route that traverses what we call Island South on the way to Stanley is quite something on a glorious sunny day but totally miserable when it is raining!

Frankly, listening to Audio descriptions of sites | sights on a Big Bus Co. Tour Bus cannot be compared to hearing the Hong Kong Story by Jamie.!

One of the things that the Big Bus Company could do is to have an employee on every bus to answer questions, not specifically to give you tour commentary but to ensure the guests on the bus can have any questions answered, the driver is not an option as it is their job to just drive the bus, unfortunately hiring people to be on the bus is a manpower issue and perhaps a bureaucratic issue as well

**The Big Bus Co. Hong Kong Lantau Sightseeing Route**

Talk about a missed opportunity, it would be amazing if the Big Bus Co. actually went to The Big Buddha and The Tai O Fishing Village on Lantau Island, a fabulous bus ride on public transport, never mind an open top bus, but they don’t and that is that and I am quite sure they cannot go to these places because of Government Bureaucracy .. the route they do have on Lantau Island is simply not worth paying for in my humble opinion, it is a shame that they are shackled by Government Bureaucracy and all that nonsense

Seeing Hong Kong on your own with a guide book was a thing back in 2010, these days it is you and your smart phone but I can assure you are missing out, no amount of google searches or reading websites and news articles can possibly give you any understanding of what Hong Kong is all about and do not get me started on Wikipedia which is chock full of quite inaccurate information about Hong Kong.

I am not one of those insufferable guides that goes on and on and on quoting lots of facts and figures, quite often with no context and quite often, totally inaccurate, the Hong Kong Government updates statistics every year on thousands of subjects and it can be hard to keep up with it all, I have always tried to tell the Hong Kong story which is an approach that most tour guides would not even consider. Honestly for a lot of guides being a guide is just a job, Hong Kong is my passion and I just love talking to people about this amazing city.

I am also blessed that my friends in the business have a similar attitude.

In a nutshell, you can book me for 2 or 3 hours (I offer 6 experiences) and you will get a quite unique insight into Hong Kong, I hate cliches, passionately I might add but seriously, I am an insider, I know Hong Kong, I have lived here for 52 years and with no disrespect to any Tour Guide in Hong Kong, I will give you a totally different view of Hong Kong, there is so much nonsense written about Hong Kong, I have lived here for 25 years under British Rule and 27 years under Chinese Rule and I have a lifetime of experiences living here, I have quite the unique perspective.

I love Hong Kong, it is my home, we still have 2 of our 3 adult sons living and working here and my wife has hundreds of relatives living here! but Utopia does not exist, no place is perfect and what you get with me is balanced opinions and I do not shy away from difficult subjects.

Something for you to consider!

A Unique Talking Tour of Hong Kong | Premium Speaking Engagement with a long time resident of 52 years.

…. and just so we are clear on why you should book a 2 or 3 hour experience with Jamie, the highlights! and I apologise if I am repeating myself!

My experience is simply a Talking Tour and will appeal to travellers who want to learn about the real Hong Kong which is just a little different to what you might read in the press or if you have been on a tour, from a tour guide - It is possible that you already have tours booked on your visit to Hong Kong either with coach tours or you have booked a private | group tour, I simply offer a detailed overview of Hong Kong based on living here for 52 years and completing 2,324 private tours of Hong Kong.

I can guarantee that my take on Hong Kong will be very different from what you might hear from what is euphemistically called a local person, I love Hong Kong, it is my home and with 52 years living here you can be sure of some very interesting stories, through my own experiences I have found that many tour guides in Hong Kong get critical facts and figures wrong but more importantly they have a pure vanilla script that they work to and in general will never say anything remotely controversial and avoid many subjects either because it makes them uncomfortable or their knowledge is somewhat shallow.

… and I can guarantee you that you will NOT hear the Hong Kong Story on a Big Bus Tour!

I have a hard hitting “blog” which I take very seriously, I was an active blogger when I was operating J3 Private Tours and I am continuing that tradition with J3 Consultants, I have always found that people are really interested in Hong Kong and yet they go away with a feeling that they do not understand Hong Kong at all, I hope to change that.

Hong Kong is unique with a fabulous history and recent | current events have been very much distorted for example in the Foreign Press, reality in Hong Kong is quite different to what you might be reading about at home.

For those people that are curious I offer a different experience that will certainly get you thinking, you will get 2 sides of the story so to speak.

So, booking a tour is great for seeing the sights as is hopping on and off a Big Bus but a talking tour with Jamie will give you a detailed insight into what makes Hong Kong tick and yes, I honed my “speaking engagement” skills whilst doing so many private tours of Hong Kong with so many wonderful people from all walks of life.

Your host Jamie, English and 52 years living in Hong Kong and I know the place. I personally completed 2,324 private tours in Hong Kong (6,000+ guests) from April 2011 - January 2020 and was considered one of the finest Private Tour Guides in Asia

I have lived in Hong Kong for 52 years, 25 years under British Rule and 27 years under Chinese Rule, that gives me a rather unique perspective of Hong Kong.

J3 Private Hong Kong Experiences

You want to learn about the REAL Hong Kong from a passionate long time resident

How local do you want to get? 52 years in Hong Kong

You have come to the right place | 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 has lived her entire life in Hong Kong, her first language is Cantonese

We have 3 Adult sons all born in Hong Kong, 2 still live here and 1 in the UK

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!

If you want to book an amazing Private Tour of Hong Kong

Cultural | Food or both then click on the button below

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Learn more | Jamie's Tripadvisor Reviews as J3 Private Tours Hong Kong

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Some of my wonderful guests on a Private Tour of Hong Kong - The Tai O Fishing Village

Learn more | The amazing view from Victoria Peak in Hong Kong and the view that nearly all visitors | tourists miss out on

Learn more | My how to get to guide so you can visit Victoria Peak Garden at Victoria Peak

Learn more | My How To get To Guide so you can visit Barker Road at Victoria Peak

Learn more | my how to get to guide to visit the Lugard Road Lookout at Victoria Peak

The truly stunning and amazing panoramic day view from the Lugard Road Lookout at Victoria Peak

The truly stunning and amazing panoramic night view from the Lugard Road Lookout at Victoria Peak

Learn more | The amazing Victoria Peak, Hong Kong

Learn more | click here for details of this fabulous audio tour of Jamie's spot on Lugard Road at Victoria Peak, Hong Kong

**Lugard Road Lookout at Victoria Peak**
If I had any followers on Instagram who liked views rather than my car images then this would be a classic, Mum, Dad and 4 kids aged from 12 - 22 from England, perfect weather, the planets aligned as they do on most days at Victoria Peak.
This rather sums up Jamie’s spot at the Peak.

Learn more | This is a list of the best Private Tour Guides in Hong Kong that I have prepared, please feel free to contact them directly - they are amazing

J3 Group Hong Kong

J3 Consultants Hong Kong | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong

J3 Consultants Private Hong Kong Experiences are tailored for individuals who prefer to explore Hong Kong independently but would like a Hong Kong Expert to tell them about Hong Kong

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.