They're often depicted as suave, sophisticated and never far from the next cocktail party. But while the job of honorary consul might sound exotic, the reality of life as 'Our Man in Hong Kong' is not quite the stuff of a Graham Greene novel.
Unlike career diplomats, they are not paid for representing the interests of the states who appoint them, nor do they get any direct reward for coming to the aid of its citizens who come into their orbit. Nor are they afforded the same privileges and immunities granted to full-time diplomats under the Vienna Convention.
While the position of honorary consul undoubtedly has its perks, not least the ability to carry on your day job and boost its and your profile, career diplomats can look down their noses at their honorary colleagues; the position is often seen as being one of style and little substance.
But all that may be changing, at least for the 59 honorary consuls who now ply their diplomatic trade in Hong Kong.
Their number has grown from 37 at the handover in 1997, an increase that reflects both the changing complexion of the diplomatic community because of the city's switch from being a colonial outpost to integral part of an increasingly powerful China and the cost constraints under which governments must operate.
Financial and logistical imperatives have already seen some consulates move their Hong Kong operations to Shanghai or Beijing; among these are those of Hungary and Norway, which had long stationed career diplomats in Hong Kong.
Others, including those of Denmark, may also be on the move, according to Dr Henry Chan, who has been honorary consul for the southwest African state of Namibia since 1993. Chan, by day a chiropractor in Causeway Bay, is chairman of the Association of Honorary Consuls in Hong Kong and Macau, which was set up in 2008 with 12 members and now boasts a cadre of 36.