Market Mayhem

I am of the firm belief that you can buy anything in Hong Kong. It may not be easy to find, and you may have to go to a specific shop or street specializing in that item, but you will find it eventually. For example, I remember when I first got here and needed to buy some mundane household item like a plug or an adaptor, and was promptly directed to the "electronics market." At first I thought this might be the name of a chain of electronics stores or something, but no: there is an actual street in Mongkok where they sell nothing else but electronic goods. This doesn't mean that you can't find electronics anywhere else in Hong Kong, but they probably won't be as good or as cheap. On the other hand, if you need something like light fixtures, you will be hard pressed to find them unless you go to one street in Wan Chai.

I suppose the assignment of certain trades to certain geographical locations is not unique to Hong Kong or China. In fact, you can find a "Blacksmith Street" or "Gold Street" or "Diamond Street" in other cities around the world. Yet in Hong Kong, I soon found out that there were specific markets and stalls for all kinds of random things--A Bird Market, A Goldfish Market, A Jade/Pearl Market, A Flower Market, An Antiques Market and generic clothes and food markets abound as well. The array of designer stores put New York to shame as well--I don't think there is an Armani Flower Shop on 5th Ave, do you? To give you a little taste of the array of goods available in distinct locals, I took some photos:

The Bird Market






The Goldfish Market






The Flower Market






The Cat Street Market (Antiques Market)





The Costumes Market





The Central Market (Typical Chinese Market)






The Designer's Market (It's huge in HK)