How can I learn to complete Hong Kong addresses if I suspect some important details are missing?

To answer your main question re: whether Hong Kong is a country or a city.... For mailing purposes, Hong Kong is normally considered a country... if you fill in an internet form (e.g. on Amazon), Hong Kong appears in the drop-down boxes. Of course, politically, Hong Kong is a "Special Administrative Region" of China, but the convention is not to include "China" in the address.  Hong Kong has its own postal authority separate from mainland China's (http://www.hongkongpost.com).  This is all due to history... Hong Kong was once a British colony, and is still autonomous even after the handover to China in 1997. To increase the likelihood that mail will be delivered, make the "country" field Hong Kong, and ensure that there is a District, Neighbourhood or Estate (if its a District, this is often filled in the "City" field of an internet form).  Here's a pretty good list of Districts and Neighbourhoods (not official, and likely incomplete, but useful nonetheless):  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_places_in_Hong_Kong.  There are no postcodes or area codes in HK, so leave that field blank.  Here's a typical example of a Hong Kong address:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hongkong_Post#Address_format   Lastly, here's an article describing the problem of incomplete addressesl:  http://www.hongkongpost.hk/eng/misc/problemAddress/index.htm. Hope this helps.  Feel free to ask follow on questions.

Google map is your friend. Try put ones you suspect into the search input and see if it returns anywhere. The structure sometimes isn't that difficult to understand once you break them down. You have to imagine that 95% of people in HK live in apartments, big sets of apartments. The idea of the address is like this: Rooms: or we call flats (that's UK place here it used to be). Flats are in numbers or alphabets say 1-10 or A-H. Floors: they are in numbers say 1-50. (That explains 32A means flat A of 32th floor). Block (optional): And with big estates they might need to be identified by  building names (ex. Tin Tsui House) or block numbers (Block 5) Apartments / estates or streets, or both: apartments *should* have a name (ex. Fortune Villa) but people might simply supply the street (#10 Orchard Road), or both to ensure post officers know the way District / Zone / City: That's the messiest of all! Since HK, the city, has been running by itself for so long it becomes a "country" while filling addresses, which is usually how the world works past century. Subsequently it kind of shifts zones (i.e. Kowloon, Hong Kong Island / New Territories)  one level up to become states / city depending on one's interpretation. Districts, ex. Wanchai, might have become city. But the funny thing is, one doesnt need to specify 3 zones (ex. Kowloon) to mail things because districts (ex. Wanchai) would've told where the address is located, similar to how you say 5th Ave of New York. Similarly it applies to street names if it's obvious enough where the street is located. So some people might've skipped inserting the zone, or even districts and mails still deliver fine. PS. Mr & Mrs. Patty should be a rich couple as they live in a "house" w/o rooms, floors, blocks and apartments and at the peaks, one of the most expensive regions. Hope that helps.