Editing Hong Kong (section)

== Hong Kong's Couch Situation ==

<b><u>WARNING</u> - We have reports coming in to our moderators about a Hong Kong CS member. The member is known to long-term HKCS members for his ill treatment of surfers and inappropriate behaviour toward young female surfers. There have been attempts to bring his misdeeds to light in the past but people still wanted to be hosted by him, despite some of his rather creepy negative references. His original profile has numerous detailed negative references which include stealing clothing, cheating surfers out of money, taking photos of female surfers while they are sleeping without their consent... the list goes on. This member has now resorted to making fake profiles. Although the fake ones that were brought to the Safety Team's attention have now been deleted, we suspect that he will simply create more, likely in multiple in order to post self-made references or include some of the fake profiles as 'friends' in order to make his profile look more legitimate.

We encourage you to avoid any members with multiple or disturbing negative references and click friend and reference links to try to establish whether they are real people. Please report any profiles that you suspect to be fake to the local moderator and the safety team. We feel this member is using HK's couch shortage to his advantage to prey on people and it's clear that his preferred targets are young women. Please plan ahead, arrive with enough money for a hostel and immediately get out of any situation which does not feel 'right' to you, even if you can't explain why. Should you need support going to law enforcement, we can provide this.</b>

It may be hard for you to find a couch here. There are far more surfers than couches in our city. 

Hong Kong is a densely populated city of small flats and high rents. It's also a business, tourism and travel hub. When searching for a couch in Hong Kong, please keep in mind that many of us can't host due to our living situation (small apartment shared with roommates/family, demanding work schedules) and that those of us who do host get many requests every day that we have to say "No" to or that we have trouble keeping on top of due to their sheer volume. 10-20 requests a day - that's per available couch - is not unusual here and some members have reported as many as 30 requests per day. 

Members who have their couch settings set to "Coffee or a drink", "Travelling" or "No" also report getting Couch Requests. Please don't do this. 

Members have also reported receiving messages with headings such as "URGENT! HELP NEEDED!" only to find that the requester has failed to a) research, b) plan for and c) budget for their Hong Kong accommodation. Please don't do this. Not only is it annoying and falsely indicative of a true emergency but this kind of behaviour also puts you in a vulnerable position [[safety|safety-wise]] (see above). Be street smart and remember that your travel is your own responsibility.

Also remember that when you advertise your Couchsearch by posting on the Hong Kong city message board, your audience consists of an unknown percentage of potential couches (you know, the same people receiving all those Couch Requests they have to say no to), people who are local but don't host and a lot of fellow travellers looking for HK info and activities... who can't host you.

'''To minimize frustration, manage your expectations and keep our Hong Kong city message board <u>FREE of Couch Requests</u>, we encourage you to:'''

# Develop a firm plan B and be ready to use it. 
# Start clicking that "CouchSearch" button early and be prepared to send out more requests than usual.
# Write personalized couch requests. Make sure your host is aware that you have read their profile and that you are interested not only in surfing their couch but meeting and connecting with them on a personal level. 
# Arrange a guesthouse or hostel for your first few nights and then meet with people at our regular Thursday night gathering or by meeting with people for coffee or a drink. Travellers occasionally find a couch after networking once they arrive. 

You can also try our 
* [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=13624 Last Minute Couchsearch Group]