Amongst the many forms of local transportation found in Hong Kong are the light minibuses that help connect hundreds of locations near and far throughout the territory. What we have are red and green light buses, which are basically 16 or 19-seater vans that transport around 1.25 million people around the territory on a daily basis.
Note that Red light buses are free to operate when and where they want without control over routes and fares. However, Green light buses operate on fixed routes, times and prices just like our normal larger buses. You pay for rides with your Octopus Card or by depositing exact change into the till as you enter. According to our local transportation department, there are around 550 various routes and 3.3K green mini buses operating throughout HK.
Locals are familiar with routes that help them get between home, work and regularly visited places. Unfortunately, they are not easy to understand for non-Cantonese speakers and those who don't read Chinese. In fact quite a few of the bus stop signs have no English and bus drivers often only speak Cantonese. You can always try asking locals on the bus for help. In the city, this usually works just fine, further in the New Territories, it is a hit or miss and English language abilities dwindle quickly.
However, these days, the Citymapper Hong Kong app that many use on their mobile devises, makes using the green buses much easier. The app is updated and does a good job revealing useful routes and expected arrival times. Stops are shown in English and Chinese which helps riders better understand when and where to make their correct exits. This can make things much, much easier if you want to try and use light green mini-buses during your time in Hong Kong, especially when trying to get to places off the beaten track, further away from the city and beyond the coverage of the larger public buses.