It’s ten past eleven on Nathan Road. The MTR is behind you, your flat is somewhere up a hill the trains don’t reach, and a cream-and-red minibus is pulling in with its door already sliding open. Nineteen seats, a driver with the radio on, and no bell anywhere. This is the journey every newcomer to Hong Kong eventually makes, and it all comes down to one phrase: 有落 (jau5 lok6), “getting off”.

Here’s how to ride a Hong Kong minibus from the kerb to your stop, step by step, with the Cantonese you’ll need at each moment.

Before it arrives: red or green?

Hong Kong’s minibuses, 小巴 (siu2 baa1), are officially called public light buses, and they fill the gaps in Hong Kong’s public transport between the MTR, regular buses and taxis. There are two types, and the colour of the roof tells you how the trip works.

A green minibus, 綠色小巴 (luk6 sik1 siu2 baa1), runs a fixed, numbered route with fixed fares, regulated by the Transport Department. They work much like larger buses: they pick up at designated stops, the route number is on the front, and you can tap your Octopus card, 八達通 (baat3 daat6 tung1), when you get on. They’re especially handy in the New Territories and on the steep parts of Hong Kong Island, where they reach estates and villages that regular buses can’t.

A red minibus, 紅色小巴 (hung4 sik1 siu2 baa1), is the older, wilder cousin. Red minibuses have no fixed routes or fares and can operate almost anywhere, except on roads where special prohibitions apply. The driver sets the price, and fares can go up late at night or in bad weather. The destinations are on a placard in the window, usually in Chinese, sometimes with English underneath. There are fewer than a thousand of them left, and they’re mostly cash only.

Both started the same way. When strikes stopped buses during the unrest of 1967, unlicensed vans filled the gap, and in 1969 the government made them legal. Green routes followed in 1972. Locals still call them by their colours, the red van and the green van, and a red minibus even got its own film: Fruit Chan’s 2014 thriller The Midnight After, about a late-night trip from Mong Kok to Tai Po that goes very wrong.

Finding the right minibus

For green minibuses, Google Maps is your friend. Search for your destination, pick public transport, and Google Maps will often suggest a green minibus, with its route number, the stop to board at and roughly where to get off. The Transport Department’s HKeMobility app covers green minibus routes too. Many routes start at a public transport interchange, the covered bus station you’ll find beside many MTR stations.

At the stop itself, look for the sign with the route number and the main destinations. Busy stops near an MTR station have a separate queue for each route, and at rush hour those queues can stretch along the pavement. Find the one with your number and wait your turn.

Red minibuses are harder to plan for, because most of them don’t show up on Google Maps. Locals simply read the placards in the window, and if you can’t, the driver is the person to ask. Either way, keep your phone out on the journey. Watching the blue dot on Google Maps is the easiest way to know when your stop is coming up.

Flagging it down

Green minibuses pick up at their own fixed stops along the route, so wait at the sign and raise a hand as yours comes. Red ones can pick you up almost anywhere they’re allowed to stop, so stick your arm out like you’re hailing a taxi.

If you’re not sure it’s going your way, lean in and ask before you climb aboard: 去唔去旺角？ (heoi3 m4 heoi3 wong6 gok3), “Are you going to Mong Kok?”. Swap in your own destination, such as 銅鑼灣 (tung4 lo4 waan1) for Causeway Bay, 尖沙咀 (zim1 saa1 zeoi2) for Tsim Sha Tsui or 灣仔 (waan1 zai2) for Wan Chai. A nod means yes. A wave of the hand means you’ve got the wrong minibus, so try the next one.

Getting on and paying

On a green minibus, tap your Octopus card on the reader by the driver as you get on. If you’d rather pay cash, drop the exact fare into the box. There’s no change, so carry exact change or use Octopus.

On a red minibus, the fare is usually on a card near the front, and on many routes you pay as you get off, in cash. Drivers will often give change, but small notes and coins make you everyone’s favourite passenger. If you can’t see a price, ask: 幾多錢？ (gei2 do1 cin2), “How much?”. Either way, minibus fares are cheap, usually far less than a taxi would cost for the same trip.

Sit down and buckle up

Minibuses carry up to 19 seated passengers and nobody stands, so if it’s full, it won’t stop. Grab a seat and put your seatbelt on. Since 2004, Hong Kong law has required passengers to wear one on any minibus seat equipped with a belt, and police do run spot checks, with fines of up to HK$5,000. Plenty of passengers don’t bother. Be the one who does.

Then settle in. Hong Kong minibus drivers know these roads by heart and drive like it, so keep an eye out of the window and watch for your landmark. This is the part where you’re planning your exit.

The moment: calling 有落

On Hong Kong’s regular buses, you press a bell and the bus driver pulls in at the next bus stop. On most minibuses there’s no bell and no stop button. When your stop is coming up, you tell the driver, out loud, in Cantonese. The basic call is:

有落！ (jau5 lok6) “Getting off!”

Its literal meaning is “there’s (someone) getting off”. 落 (lok6) means to go down or get off, the same word as in 落車 (lok6 ce1), “get out of the vehicle”. You don’t need “please” or “I”. Two syllables, said clearly, are all a Hong Kong minibus driver expects.

To say where you want to get off, put a place in front of it. These are the ones you’ll use most:

• 前面有落 (cin4 min6 jau5 lok6), “getting off just ahead”

• 下一站有落 (haa6 jat1 zaam6 jau5 lok6), “getting off at the next stop”

• 巴士站有落 (baa1 si2 zaam6 jau5 lok6), “getting off at the bus stop”

• 街口有落 (gaai1 hau2 jau5 lok6), “getting off at the corner of the street”

• 轉角有落 (zyun3 gok3 jau5 lok6), “getting off round the corner”

• 過咗燈位有落 (gwo3 zo2 dang1 wai2 jau5 lok6), “getting off after the traffic lights”

• 地鐵站有落 (dei6 tit3 zaam6 jau5 lok6), “getting off at the MTR station”

Timing is everything. Call it about a block before you want to stop, early enough for the driver to pull in safely and not so early that the driver forgets. Say it loud enough to cut through the radio. A polite 唔該 (m4 goi1) on the front makes it softer, 唔該，有落！ (m4 goi1, jau5 lok6), but the 有落 is the part that matters.

Sometimes the driver gets there first. Coming up to a stop, you may hear a shout from the front: 有冇落？ (jau5 mou5 lok6), “Anyone getting off?”. If that’s you, answer 有！ (jau5), “Yes!”, and the minibus will pull in.

If you miss your stop

It happens to everyone, usually while you’re still working up the nerve. Don’t panic and don’t apologise at length. Call 有落 as soon as you can and get off. Walking back a few minutes is a very Hong Kong rite of passage. On a green minibus, the next stop is rarely far. On a red one, the driver can usually drop you at the next safe spot.

If shouting across a full minibus feels like too much on day one, start with 前面有落 (cin4 min6 jau5 lok6). It works almost anywhere, and you don’t need to know the name of a single street.

Getting off

When the minibus pulls in, pay if you’re on a red one, step out and say a quick 唔該 (m4 goi1), “thanks”, as you go. That’s the whole ride. Do it twice and you’ll stop rehearsing the phrase under your breath. Do it ten times and you’ll hear yourself calling 有落 without thinking, which is the moment Hong Kong starts to feel like home.

Minibuses are just one place where a little Cantonese goes a long way. For more everyday phrases, from the MTR to the hotel front desk, see our guide to essential Cantonese phrases for travellers, and if you’re staying for longer, the Cantonese you need for moving to Hong Kong. Numbers come up on every journey too, so our guide to numbers in Cantonese is worth a look before you start asking 幾多錢.

Frequently asked questions

What does 有落 mean?

有落 (jau5 lok6) literally means “there’s (someone) getting off”. It’s what Hong Kong passengers call out to tell a minibus driver to stop. You can add a place in front, as in 巴士站有落, “getting off at the bus stop”.

What’s the difference between red and green minibuses?

Green minibuses run fixed, numbered routes with fixed fares and take the Octopus card. Red minibuses have no fixed routes or fares, can stop almost anywhere they’re allowed to, and are mostly cash only.

Can you use Octopus on Hong Kong minibuses?

Yes on green minibuses, where you tap on as you get on. Some red minibuses take Octopus too, but many don’t, so carry cash.

Do Hong Kong minibus drivers speak English?

Some do, but many, especially older drivers, speak very little. You don’t need much: a destination to ask about and 有落 to get off will cover most journeys.