Bedding down at a Hong Kong hotel can come with a credit card melting price tag attached, so each month we try and bring you the best deals, promotions and give aways on hotel stays in the city

This month you can live the highlife in the five star Langham Hotel's Grand Room, which is offering one night free on five night stays, while the Regal in Kowloon is offering up to 30% off rack rates for guests who book far enough in advance. Find out more about these and other Hong Kong hotel deals in our monthly Best Hong Kong Hotel Deals

Vampires are breaking out their toothbrushes and werewolves are warming up their curling tongs, as Halloween in Hong Kong gets underway.

The city doesn't have a great tradition of celebrating Halloween but events this year are expected to be the biggest ever. Celebrations for the kids revolve around the haunted parades and spooky shows at Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park, while adults can strut their stuff at the costume parties in Lam Kwai Fong.

If you're wondering what the rest of the world gets up to on October 31st, take a trip over to our Ultimate Halloween Travel Guide which covers the ghostly goings on from Salem to Scandinavia.

As if the Chinese visa situation in Hong Kong wasn't complicated enough, the authorities have now added a new type of visa. Called the "144-hour Convenient Visa Guangdong Province, China", it certainly wins the most ridiculously titled visa award.

The visa is only for foreign nationals visiting Hong Kong and allows group visits to Gunagdong Province via Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing and Huizhou.

There are a couple of major drawbacks to the visa. You must travel in a group, with a minimum of 3, and you must all enter and leave the country together. And the real reason for introducing it; you must arrange a 'tour' through a Hong Kong Travel Agent. This may not necessarily mean booking a six day, guide led, itinerary packed tour, but simply paying a fee to the tour agency to win yourself the visa. Another Chinese visa scheme that helps the travel agent and not the traveller. You can use CTS or Grayline to book the tour and visa. You can get an in depth, blow by blow of the new visa in our guide to the Guangdong Group Visa.

Individuals will need to use the Shenzhen Visa, if they want a taste of China, or a full Chinese visa if they are ineligible for the Shenzhen Visa or travelling to areas in Guangdong outside the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone.

After the debacle of knocking down Hong Kong's Star Ferry Pier and putting several historic markets in Wan Chai out of business - all in the name of progress - Hong Kongs' government took a beating on the public opinion front. Protests, petitions and rock bottom popularity made the government think again about their policy of knocking anything down when a businessman flashed a smile and his bulging briefcase.

Now, proof that they've put their bulldozers away, at least for now, in a plan to conserve key areas of the Central Financial District. The plan promises access to the waterfront for the public, the conservation of Central's bustling market and the preservation of key colonial buildings in the area. That said, it's unlikely any of these impressive and important buildings will survive intact, with most likely to end up as 'heritage projects'. Hotels and shopping malls to you and me. Still, it's a step in the right direction.

See some of Hong Kong's Historic Buildings

Half Day Hong Kong Colonial Tour

Tea at the Peninsula Hotel

As the humidity recedes and it's finally safe to go outside for ten minutes without your shirt turning into a dishcloth, the city's outside events are flourishing.

One of the city's best, and increasingly popular, events are the Moonlight Movies, a series of outdoor, evening movie screenings in Cyberport. On the sliver screen this year is the topical Wall Street (Nov 13th) and the all singing, all dancing Moulin Rouge (Nov 14th).

The 'cinema' itself is kitted out with a 6.8 by 9 metre LED Screen and beanbags for sitting on, while Dublin Jacks provides a full bar and BBQ snacks.

At $200, tickets aren't cheap, but the atmosphere and setting make it worth the extra expense. Tickets are on sale now at Openair Hong Kong and if you fancy a film in the fresh air, you're advised to book early. Due to the bar and films being shown, entry is restricted to 18+ only.

Shine your apples and dust off your white sheet, Hong Kong is gearing up for Halloween with a full festival of spooky events and happenings.

Ocean Park will be retelling some of Hong Kong's scariest stories with the help of more than 400 ghouls while rival Hong Kong Disneyland will be doing its best imitation of the traditional American style Halloween, with classic characters donning costumes and going trick or treating. Over at Madame Tussauds their - already knee knocking - interactive Scream ride will be given a themed Halloween makeover.

Once the kids have been persuaded monsters aren't actually real and gone to bed, adults can hit the haunted Halloween party on the streets of Lan Kwai Fong.  Bars and restaurants will be decked out with jack o'lanterns, while ghostly performers stalk the streets.

You can find out more about these events in our Halloween in Hong Kong article.

Unless you’re English, Australian, Indian, or hail from some other part of the British Commonwealth, two hundred and ninety three for six, from forty seven overs will likely sound like a fraction problem, not a sports score.

The numbers above actually combine to make up a cricket score, and the game continues to enjoy popularity in this former British Colony. Now, the Cricket Centre of Excellence is offering everyone, from beginners to would be Kevin Pietersons, a chance to get to grips with the bat and ball in a series of Smasher training courses.

Courses can be joined monthly, with a number of repeat sessions run each week at several Hong Kong locations. Monthly prices come in at HK$850 for adults and HK$650 for under 18s; allowing access two weekly training sessions for four weeks. Short term visitors to the city can even dip into a one off session, priced at HK$200, with a minimum of six trainees. For booking and more information, check out Omnicon Events.

Mother nature is obviously unimpressed by Hong Kong’s belching pollution because the city is currently getting hammered by typhoons, and the season is supposed to be winding down, not up.

On the back of Typhoon Mujigae, which dumped buckets of rain on Hong Kong, comes the far more serious Typhoon Koppu. Typhoon signal 8 is currently flying, meaning ferry services and most other non essential public transport is cancelled and delays at Hong Kong Airport are to be expected. You are advised to stay indoors.

The Hong Kong Observatory expects to lift the signal sometime this morning (Hong Kong time) as the storm makes landfall and weakens. That said, bad weather, including driving rain and strong winds will persist, and Typhoon Signal 3 is expected to stay in place all day. Check the Hong Kong Observatory for updates, or our What to Do in a Hong Kong Typhoon for an explanation of the warning system.

Update: The Typhoon Signal has now been lowered, although an amber rainstorm warning remains in force. Public transport and airport services have returned to normal.

It’s been a busy Typhoon season in Hong Kong and it looks like the city is going to get tickled by one last storm before the weather finally settles down.

There is currently a Typhoon Signal 3 in effect for Tropical Storm Mujigae and winds have picked up in Hong Kong. Typhoon Signal 3 basically entails staying away from coastal areas and tying down loose items, such as BBQs, on balconies or in gardens.

The storm is not currently tracking towards the city and if you’re planning to travel either in or out of the Hong Kong, you should expect only minor delays. Public transport is also running on schedule. You should however, pay attention to further notices and information posted on the Hong Kong Observatory website.

You can find out more on what to expect in a Typhoon Signal 3 in our What to Do in a Hong Kong Typhoon guide.

Ok, so they’re not quite the headline grabbers that London’s black, hackney carriages or New York’s bold yellow taxis are, but Hong Kong’s fleet of sleek red cabs are an iconic part of the city’s identity.

Thanks to an excellent public transport system, few people own cars in Hong Kong. Luckily, the quality of the transport system and the low price of its tickets have forced Hong Kong taxi drivers to keep there prices in the bargain basement and taxi hopping is popular.

In general, a short hop in Hong Kong will cost you around half the price, if not less, of the same journey in New York or London. Other bonuses include vehicles that are spotlessly clean, a massive fleet, meaning you’re never caught standing in the rain, and taxi drivers who actually seem to have passed a driving test. Personally, I think Hong Kong cabs are the best in the world.

Expats frequently complain about the inability of taxi drivers to understand or speak English. It’s true, they don’t know their left from right; but for anyone who has had to sit through a London cabby holding court on the latest celebrity scandal, or a New York taxi driver’s curse laden assessment of last nights Met game - it’s not all bad. And, I’ll say this; the man on the end of the radio at headquarters always speaks English. You tell him your destination, he tells the driver and you go. Simple.

Ny-Lon-Kong as dubbed by the media, who do you think has the best taxi service?