Shopping for gifts and souvenirs for family and friends back home? A little present for the faithful dog-walker or cat-sitter? Souvenirs for everyone in the office? Or just some momento to remind you of the colorful Asian city of Hong Kong where the east meets the west? Here are some suggestions:

• tea set

  - there are so many styles of teapot and teacup sets that choosing will be difficult! + see photo- hide photo
  
  Chinese teapot and teacups in homey country style with translucent rice grains embedded in the porcelain.

• tea leaves

  - you may not want to buy all the tea from China, but a pound or two would be great for the tea-lover! You can even get aged pu'er "tea cakes"! Just double-check the customs and import policy of your country to make sure your tea won't go down the wrong ceramic container!

• abacus

  - there are real abacuses that some locals still use, especially in herbal medicine shops, and also little credit card size gold-plated metal ones for fun. It makes a great gift for an accountant friend. The full-sized versions can be found at stationery stores inexpensively. + see photo- hide photo
  
  A cute little abacus about the size of a big smart phone.

• silk scarves and pajamas

  - in good supply at TST and Stanley Market.

• Chinese style children clothing

  - available in souvenir shops in TST and Stanley Market, and also available at hawker stalls in Sham Shui Po, and Mongkok Ladies' Market. + see photo- hide photo
  
  
  
  Chinese style children clothing can make good gifts and souvenirs.

• embroidery

  - there are two-sided translucent ones that are delicate and beautiful: the design (a kitten, an eagle, etc.) can be seen on both sides. They are usually framed and mounted on a rotating stand. (Could be found at Yue Hwa Chinese Products store, one store location is Jordan at the intersection of Nathan Rd and Jordan Rd. Probably available at Stanley Market as well.)

• Chinese scales

  - they are still used in herbal medicine shops to weigh out herbs. New ones of different sizes can be found in Yue Hwa.

• chopsticks and chopstick rests

  - there are some nice ones in boxes (TST, Stanley Market, Yue Hwa should all have them.)

• chopsticks, placemat, and napkin sets

  - made of nice embroidered fabric (TST, Stanley Market, Yue Hwa should all have them.)

• silk or satin table runners

  - with Chinese patterns of flowers, Chinese writings, etc. (TST, Stanley Market, Yue Hwa should all have them.)

• small silk or satin jewelry or coin purses

  - nice and soft (TST, Stanley Market, Yue Hwa should all have them.)

• embroidered slippers or shoes

  - there're both the traditional and the modern designs to choose from. + see photo- hide photo
  
  Embroidered slipper and shoe spotted at a store.

• oriental vases

  - TST, Stanley Market, Yue Hwa, Hollywood Road should all have them.

• oriental mug

  - many with a lid and some even with a tea strainer, it is widely used by the locals. A great gift in the US$5-10 range. Available in many home supplies stores.

• tablecloth

  - a number of different styles can be found: crochet, satin; TST, Stanley Market, Yue Hwa should all have them.

• T-shirts, sweat shirts

  - Get them at Ladies Market, Ap Liu Street, Wan Chai. + see photo- hide photo
  
  Did you say T-shirts? Take your time and pick one, or two, or ten available at many tourist locations like the Ladies' Market in Mongkok.

• Chinese painting

  - Stanley Market is your best bet unless you want collectors' items

• Chinese calligraphy brush set

  - they come with a wooden stand on which the brushes hang (TST, Stanley Market, Yue Hwa should all have them.)

• Chinese calligraphy ink stick and stone set

  - for your artistic friends, they may just like to have this to practice their Chinese calligraphy or painting. Instead of having ink in a bottle, ancient Chinese used a solid stick of ink to grind on the ink stone - with a bit of water added - to instantly produce ink for writing. This goes well with the Chinese calligraphy brush set. (Usually available at stationery stores)

• stone seal

  - they can be carved with a person's name in Chinese a day or two - and even if you don't have a name in Chinese, the vendor would be glad to name you, free of charge I suspect! (TST, Stanley Market, Yue Hwa should all have them.) + see photo- hide photo
  
  Cut stones of various shapes and sizes and designs ready to be personalized with your Chinese name.

• oriental padlocks

  - great for oriental cabinets or just an addition to a friend's collection of knickknacks. (TST, Lascar Row aka Cat Street) + see photo- hide photo
  
  A cute little old-style Chinese padlock.

• fridge magnets

  - there're a lot of different styles, including little "dim sum" steamers as seen in photo at the top of this page (TST, Stanley Market, Yue Hwa, and even the airport should all have them.)

• jewellery

  - small Chinese jewellery items like a necklace, earrings, bracelets, or a broach in oriental design can be a nice souvenir. There are plenty of jewellery shops all over the city. And since many Asians just adore gold, gold jewellery is in ample supply here. Just make sure you make the purchase from chain stores (pun intended) because there're always crooks ready to scam tourists who can't easily return to file a claim.

• bamboo steamers

  - this is a nice addition to a kitchen. For the health-conscious, steamed food is great, so stackable bamboo steamers are a good option. They are still used by dim sum restaurants here in Hong Kong to cook up a variety of dishes - shrimp dumplings, pork buns, "siu my," chicken feet, just to name a few. Steamers also make great pieces to add to the decor of any world-traveller. They come in a few different sizes, from 3 to 20-inch diameters. You can find them in Shanghai Street in Mongkok. + see photo- hide photo
  
  A small decorative bamboo steamer.

• braille cookies / designer mooncakes

  - Codekey Cookies make cookies with a message - in braille! They also have other seasonal products like mooncakes around mid-autumn festival (aka moon festival). What is even more special is that it is a social enterprise run by visually impaired folks! Well-worth supporting!

• Design Gallery

  - Nowadays the Design Gallery of the HK Trade Development Council also showcase some interesting local designs. They have a store in the HK Convention and Exhibition Center in Wan Chai.