Asia Pacific Guides™
Hong Kong
Exploring the city's atmospheric Streets‌
How to explore the city's most atmospheric streets on a short trip? Hong Kong is best known for its glittering skyscrapers and glitzy shopping malls, but while the city's extravagant shopping precincts are, indeed, outstanding, they are not that different than their counterparts in Sydney, New York, or any other international city... This article will, therefore, take you on a short tour to the city's back streets, where Hong Kong's old spirit can still be felt and, surprisingly enough, you will see that exploring those authentic streets is much easier than you imagined... Yau ma Tei and Mong Kok lie north of Tsim sha Tsui, just a short distance from the seafront promenade and the high-end boutiques, and are characterized by old buildings, with shops and restaurants at street level, and commercial or residential units above. The atmosphere around here is less touristy than in TST, or Hong Kong Island, and the two suburbs also house some of the metropolis' best open-air markets. The old and characterful streets of Yau-ma-Tei are lined with plenty of Chinese shops that sell all sorts of 'exotic' products, from herbal medicines to dried snake meat... Our starting point will be at exit A of Jordan MTR Station, from where you turn right to Jordan Road, and right again, to Shanghai Street: Yau-ma-Tei's main thoroughfare. On the corner of Nanking Street there are some market stalls that are worth looking at, and a few steps further, on 164 Shanghai Street, there is a small and popular restaurant called Sek Wong Lam, which is best known for its Snake Soup...
Offering 50% off and 'Buy 1, get 1 free' discounts at nearly 100 of Hong Kong's top restaurants, shops and spas, the Hong Kong Card includes plenty of quality dining options, and is really easy to use.
Turn left to Ning Po Street and right to the bustling wet market along Reclamation Street, which will bring you to Kansu Street and the famous Jade Market. Turn right to Kansu and almost immediately left, to Shanghai Street. After a minute or two you will see an open piazza with old banyan trees on your right, near the corner of Public Square Street. This is where the old Tin Hau Temple can be found and although there are more impressive temples in Hong Kong, it is well worth visiting.
Cross Public Square Street. On your right (corner of Temple Traveling in Asia ? Enjoy some of the best hotel Street) is Mido CafĂŠ: One of the city's oldest and most rates in Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, nostalgic eating houses... Keep walking along Shanghai Street: Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul. A short stroll will bring you to Man Kee Chopping Board, on . 342 Shanghai (on your right), which is one of the best places in HK to buy professional chopping boards, and right next to it, on 344 Shanghai, you can see the historic redbricks building which once housed the oldest pumping station in Hong Kong. Tak Yu Restaurant, on 378 Shanghai Street (corner of Pitt), opened its doors more than a century ago and still serves lovely Cantonese fare, including dim-sum, at reasonable prices. From here you can walk through Pitt Street to Yau-ma-Tei MTR Station, or to Nathan Road and the open-air markets of Mong Kok, such as the world famous Ladies' Market. To know more about touring Hong Kong, including suggestions for day tour itineraries, visit the Hong Kong Travel Guide, at metropolasia.com, where you can download some of the best online guides for free.
Copyright Š 2012 Asia-Pacific Guides Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please click HERE To view and download our full range of Hong Kong online-guides.