Hong Kong

Chinese SAR (counts as China in streaks); plates white front / yellow rear (some cars carry an extra black mainland plate)

Sri Lanka: Sinhala + tropical island → Sri Lanka; dense skyscrapers → HK.

Drives on the left (Singapore too; Taiwan drives right)

Ultra-dense city: modern skyscrapers, busy streets - the 'vibe' alone identifies urban HK; extremely tall apartment towers (much taller than Singapore/Taiwan); wall-mounted air conditioners everywhere

Rural HK: mountainous, green subtropical; low-rise villages but apartment towers rarely far away (Singapore = flat!)

Bilingual English + traditional Chinese signs (Cantonese-speaking)

Taiwan: Taiwan drives right, much less English.

Macau: Portuguese → Macau.

China: Simplified + tripods → mainland.

Cylindrical grey lamp posts w/ wide base (+white sticker); rural-only cylindrical wooden poles (single/double, w/ counters/transformers)

Kerbs almost never striped (vs Singapore!); grey pedestrian guardrails; yellow pedestrian crossings + yellow intersection grids; white centre + white/yellow outer lines (yellow outer = no stopping); concrete roads common

Road signs white rectangular w/ thick black outline + bilingual text; give-way = white triangle w/ thick red border + bilingual text

Weathered rock walls on mountainsides, some netted, with green/blue plaques

Red fire hydrants (circular top, 3 protrusions; pipe variant); yellow bollards w/ white arrow in blue circle; bright orange bins

Taxis: silver roofs + green bumper stickers; red = HK Island/Kowloon, green = New Territories, blue = Lantau/Chek Lap Kok; double-decker buses (place names on the front help region-guess; Singapore's are lime-green)

Rail metas: double-decker tram along north HK Island (don't confuse w/ red MTR line); NW New Territories = light-rail w/ green-orange platforms, separated tracks

District looks: Mong Kok = crowded grid, shops under old apartment blocks (little glass); Central = modern skyscrapers, luxury stores; Mid-Levels = non-identical tall apartments on hills; Quarry Bay = identical white-brown blocks + glass offices; Caribbean Coast/Tung Chung = identical 'wall' apartments + palms; NW border area = flat waterlogged rice paddies + Shenzhen skyline north; boxy village houses → north

IFC vs ICC: IFC (HK Island) = rounder + vertical window frames; ICC (Kowloon) = cuboid, no frames - tells you which side you're on

Bridge metas: Tsing Ma = only major suspension bridge, ladder towers, yellow-red guardrails; Ting Kau = 3 cylindrical towers + yellow paint; Stonecutters = no yellow, box-beam guardrails; HK-Zhuhai-Macao bridge visible from Chek Lap Kok's South Perimeter Road (b&y barriers)

Road spotlights: Lung Wo Road = both skylines visible (Island S, Kowloon N); Tai Chung Kiu Road = NE divided, Shing Mun River west, palm median + bike path (Route 2 = more lanes); Fan Kam Road = narrow, dense tropical, no outer lines, NE; Lam Kam Road = E-W, busier, wider, tree median; Disneyland roads = divided, palms + teal street lamps; Chek Lap Kok = large-scale construction + bridges

Trekker islands: Peng Chau, Cheung Chau, Lamma (hilliest) = no cars, narrow streets, rural buildings; Lugard Road (Victoria Peak) = black guardrail + skyline view + tourists; Kai Tak Cruise Terminal = shiny cylinder w/ triangular windows (seen from Eastern Corridor / Kwun Tong bypass)