At the Heart of Global Business: What an Exchange in Hong Kong Is Really Like

Mark Verlitsky, a second-year student in the Business Management programme at HSE Graduate School of Business, shares his experience of intense competition for grades at a Hong Kong university, life in a beachside residence, and networking in one of the world’s leading financial centres.

In the spring semester of my second year, from January to May 2026, I was fortunate enough to take part in an academic mobility programme. I was hosted by City University of Hong Kong, located in Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China.

I chose Hong Kong because I understood that Western and Eastern cultures coexist there. It is one of the world’s largest financial centres and a place where you can genuinely build a career. The combination of strong business education, a vibrant urban environment and its location in the heart of Asia made City University of Hong Kong my top choice.

Preparing to Leave

There is nothing particularly difficult about the application process. The main thing is not to be afraid and to start preparing in advance, roughly two months before the deadline. I began by drawing up my study plan to understand which universities were available to me, then collected recommendation letters from my lecturers and submitted my application.

One important feature of Hong Kong is that the university applies for the visa on behalf of the student, so there is no need to go to an embassy. You simply need to send a set of documents to the host university. I used an international courier service, and delivery took around seven days. A couple of weeks before departure, the visa arrives by email, after which you need to pay an immigration fee of HKD 330 and a university administrative fee of HKD 600. You cannot pay with a Russian or Belarusian bank card, so you need a foreign card. In Hong Kong itself, I used a UnionPay card from Rosselkhozbank. I withdrew cash from ATMs and topped up a local Octopus payment card, which is convenient for paying almost everywhere, from the metro to shops and cafés. I can definitely recommend this method alongside using a foreign bank card.

First Impressions and Adaptation

From a language point of view, there are no problems at the university, as all teaching is in English. Outside the campus, however, English does not always work. Many local residents mainly speak Cantonese, and in small cafés or markets it can be difficult to manage without a translation app on your phone. This is not a critical issue, but it is important to be prepared for it. As for the climate, it is quite comfortable for everyday life until mid-April; closer to summer, the high humidity and heat make it less pleasant.

The University and Study Format

The university provides exchange students with accommodation. In my case, there was effectively no competition for places, and all the exchange students I knew received a place without any difficulty. Students are given around two and a half weeks to pay for accommodation for the whole semester. The residence itself is located in Ma On Shan. There is a small shopping centre nearby, several beaches, and everything you need within a five-minute walk. The campus is about 30–40 minutes away by metro, which does not feel like a major burden. I would not have swapped this location for any other, including the on-campus residence.

The first week was organised by the university’s business school as an orientation week. We had a large group trip to the Big Buddha statue on Lantau Island, campus tours and meetings with professors. It is clear that the business school really invests in exchange students throughout the semester: events such as hikes are organised regularly, and it is definitely worth taking advantage of them.

I took the maximum possible number of courses — six in total, while the minimum is four: Mergers and Acquisitions, Financial Management, Global Business Systems Strategy and Tactical Management, Business Case Analysis and Communication, Developing and Presenting a Business Plan, and HRM in Non-Profit and Public Sectors. At City University of Hong Kong, there is no familiar division into lectures and seminars. Instead, there are three-hour classes, and the format is determined by each lecturer. In some cases, the class is essentially a full lecture; in others, theory in the first half of the semester is followed by team presentations throughout the second half. The timetable is fixed for the entire semester, which is very different from the Higher School of Business, as it allows you to plan free days and trips in advance.

The most valuable course for me was Mergers and Acquisitions. It gave me the applied perspective I needed on the financial side of company operations. We analysed specific cases, which significantly improved my understanding of the business environment in Asia.

The assessment system is similar to that of the Higher School of Business. Exams were compulsory to pass, each course included team projects with public presentations, and there were relatively few homework assignments, mainly in M&A and Financial Management. It is important to understand that in Hong Kong, you really do have to study. Lecturers set quotas for top grades, and even a high percentage in a course does not guarantee an excellent mark. Competition for grades is genuinely intense, and I experienced this first-hand. Since the three-hour classes in finance-related courses often focused heavily on theory, I had to prepare for those exams independently, which also became a valuable experience in working through material on my own.

Culture and Travel

Hong Kong is the centre of Asia, and it would be a mistake to miss the opportunity to travel during the semester. During my exchange, I managed to visit Kuala Lumpur, Macau and Vietnam, and I can confidently say that these trips became just as important a part of the experience as the studies themselves. It is entirely possible to combine studying, travelling and career-related goals in Hong Kong, as the workload allows you to do so.

I would also like to highlight the level of professional and personal connections in Hong Kong. Many exchange students come to Hong Kong from all over the world, including the United States, Europe and other parts of Asia. We had a shared chat, which made it easy to find people to go for walks or attend events with. People here are very open, and the environment itself encourages networking. The quality of connections is definitely above average, thanks to the scale and international nature of the city.

What I Gained from This Experience

The main challenge of the exchange was combining six courses with an active extracurricular life and travelling, especially since part of the exam preparation required independent study. Beyond that, the exchange greatly broadened my outlook and gave me an understanding of how education works outside my familiar environment.

The main piece of advice I can give future participants is not to be afraid. Any difficulty that comes up can be solved. Many students go through this experience every year, and there is nothing that should stop you from joining them. My academic mobility experience at City University of Hong Kong proved truly invaluable, both in terms of professional development and understanding how business education works in one of the world’s key financial centres, and in terms of personal growth, broader horizons and international connections. I sincerely recommend that every student at the Higher School of Business try their hand at it and make the most of the opportunities offered by the HSB International office.