Long time ago when I visited HK I drove my father's manual car for 1 month. I was newly qualified so low experience. Even so, I managed with little problem in traffic or in the hills.
But time has changed so don't know if manual is popular or not these days.
I drove manual >20 years and much prefer using it. But these days the cars I buy don't come in manual so no choice.
In HK it's better to drive automatic car. Too much traffic jam.
I used to drive manual too since at that time the model I drove did not provide automatic. But nowadays automatic become the standard to new car.