Markets, Hong Kong

If you like hanging with the locals, then this is the market for you.

The Apliu Flea Market located in Sham Shui Po. It's a heady mix of heat, humidity, new and used electronic parts, electrical appliances, video/audio equipment and communication products. Hubby got a great deal on a telescope when we were there.

There are also various vendors selling junk and things like jade, old coins (or possibly not old) and watches. I bought some jade but you have to know what you're looking for and what you are buying. Not much English is spoken but a pen, paper, and a calculator is all that's needed for deal making!

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This market was my first taste of traditional Chinese culture. The colourful, bustling and somewhat smelly back streets lined with stalls are a stark contrast to the towering glass skyscrapers poking out above the surrounding buildings. If you happen to be staying in Hong Kong on a self-catering basis, this would be a good place to pick up fresh meat and vegetables if you have a strong stomach.

To find the market, head southwest from the Wan Chai MTR or get off the tram on Johnston Road a little after the fork off from Queensway. From my map I'm sure its somewhere between Spring Garden Lane and Lun Fat Street.

I think that chinese markets are quite interesting to visit. It gives a pretty acurate picture of the locals and tells a lot on their consuming habits.

Sometimes, you would even be surprised to see the different stalls of fruits, flower, meat etc. As seen in the picture, butchers have open stalls and the meat is hung out for you to choose the piece you want. You might ask if this is really hygenic, well, I think there is no problem as local people have been buying meat at markets.

You can also see shops selling live chicken. They would take a live chicken out, cut its throat and put it inside a big pot waiting for it to die. You have to come back around 15 min later for them to clean the chicken and take off all the chicken's hair.

The situation is almost the same for fish. You can buy a fish that is still alive. The fish will be knocked out before being cleaned for you. Sometimes, I must say it's pretty cruel... Once, the fish that I bought hasn't died yet (even after the fish stand has cut open it) and it kept moving in the plastic bag, that was a horrible feeling !!

Get off the main streets and into the back areas and you will come across a lot of little markets selling clothing as well as wet markets with fresh produces. Everything is amazingly fresh as most Chinese like to buy as they need rather than freeze goods.

Visit one of the markets and see how the locals shop. This is fun injust about every city. I always like to try an dbuy something, just for the experience. Although I don't think I bought anything from this vendor, where to put a slab of meat for the return trip home??!!

Take a stroll through the Kowloon bird market. It's a great way to spend an hour! Just look in your guidebook or ask a local for information on how to get there.

Everyone goes to Temple Street at night but very few tourist go to Woman's Street in the day time, it is not as crowded and have many more items to browse from.