For First Taste - Dae specifically gives them a lot of leads including photos, addresses and such. You can get them pointed in the right direction quickly with a terse reminder from her.
Their contacts and other NPCs can provide hints and directions too. My group befriended the Lone Star officer and traded data which got them the two page Lone Star report printed in Ghost Cartels. The technomancer bought ShadowSEA as a contact, so I use that to drip feed other news and rumors of tempo and local news with hints of things beyond GC.
Finally, flat out tell them as gamemaster. With groups completely new to Shadowrun, you have to let them know about some of the core concepts. Legwork is a must, keeping a low profile, don't stand in the open alleyway to fend off 10 orks even if you think being a troll with armor sounds pretty beefy... Let the players know what their characters would know as shadowrunners in the 2070s.
PS - my group is halfway through the Hong Kong arc. I've started posting one player's campaign journal here on the Fiction forum. I'd be interested to hear how your guys' groups played through the same events!
