Above: Nathan
Road in Mongkok
with all its neon signs beckoning passers-by to the shops.
There is plenty of street-side shopping since Hong Kong is a
very integrated city. Chances are, you will be staying in a tourist
area where there are shops everywhere. Tsim
Sha Tsui and Causeway
Bay are two popular tourist areas where many hotels
are.
In fact in Hong Kong, you don't have to go shopping in order
to shop. If you have walked on Nathan
Road in Tsim
Sha Tsui area, you know what I mean. "Copy watch?"
you would be asked on the street by people holding a stack of
photos of Rolex-look-alikes. If you have a suitcase in tow there,
the product offered is tailored to your apparent need. But don't
get me wrong, Tsim Sha Tsui is not an area to avoid. Just enjoy
the attention and ignore the sales pitch if you don't need the
product!
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Above: Are you shopping for shoes?
There are shops everywhere. |
| In addition to the shops along the streets,
there're also many conveniently located shopping centers and malls
easily accessible via the nice subway system (MTR). |
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|
Districts |
 Tsim
Sha Tsui - you
can just call it TST if you can't quite figure out how to
pronounce it. It is the area at the southmost tip of Kowloon.
Many of the electronics stores there put a code on their
products that only they can interpret. Then when you come
along, they price the item according to your facial expression,
accent, and size of your wallet. Beware
that many a tourist have thought they were getting bargains
only to regret it afterwards. But then of course, other
kinds of stores are also there where the prices are marked
and somewhat reasonable. more
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Clock tower in
Tsim Sha Tsui
see
the panoramic picture aken of the
TST harbor front |
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 Causeway
Bay - for locals living on Hong Kong Island, this
is pretty much the "grand central station" when it comes
to shopping. Most of the action is concentrated around the MTR
station - which has exits going as far as the Times
Square. The pedestrain crossing
on Yee Wo Street in front of Sogo Department store is often
so crowded that the traffic light is not long enough for all to
finish crossing the road. With the shortage of street-level stop
space, a lot of restaurants have moved upstairs. There are buildings
with multiple restaurants on various floors. more
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 Mongkok
- known as the most densely populated area in Hong Kong, it
is also one of the most popular shopping areas for locals in Kowloon.
The intersection of Nathan
Road and Argyle Street is sort of the center of all the action,
though things change with times as new shops and malls open. Mongkok
Computer Center, Ladies'
Market, Sai
Yeung Choi Street (with many consumer electronics stores),
Nathan
Road, and Langham
Place (mall and hotel) are some of the hot spots in the area.
Meanwhile the goldfish
market is the place to pick out some fins. more
about Mongkok
|
 Stanley
- located in the southeast corner of Hong Kong Island, Stanley
is away from the more populated parts of Hong Kong. The Stanley
Market has become one of the must-go's for tourists. It is the location
with the most concentrated souvenir shops. There are also some places
to stroll around in the area, a good place to spend an afternoon
and have a seaside dinner. more |
| Item
Categories |
| If you want to look
for a specific item, here are where the locals shop for:
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Electronics
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- consumer electronics (e.g. cameras, mp3 players, PSP,
DiscMan, MiniDisc players, video cameras, multi-system VCR/TV)
- Sai
Yeung Choi St. South, Mongkok.
I would suggest that you check out the prices at the chain
stores first.
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Clothing
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Above: a T-shirt stall in Ladies'
Market |
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Computers
& supplies |
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- Golden
Shopping Arcade - in Sham
Shui Po; books, computer supplies, video games and machines
in basement and upper ground floor, then the 1st floor has all
the computer hardware stores (it seems you must enter this through
the outside stairs around the corner). It is just next to the
Sham Shui Po MTR
station. But beware that the hallways are so crowded with people
and the storekeepers' goods that it is downright dangerous in
case of any emergency.
- Winsor House - in Causeway
Bay; close to the Causeway Bay MTR
station. It is one of the most pleasant computer centers to
look around in with three floors of shops. Unfortunately, at
the time of writing, many shops seem to have moved elsewhere.
- 298 Computer Shopping Center
- 298 Hennessy Road, Wanchai; between the Wanchai & Causeway
Bay MTR
stations. Probably easiest to get to by taking a tram going
east towards Wanchai
from Causeway Bay MTR. It is on the south side of the street
close to Heard Street.
- Mongkok
Computer Center - Mongkok,
close to intersection of Nelson St and Tung Choi Street. Close
to the Bank Center exit of the Mongkok MTR
station. Beware: though smoking is banned in shopping centers,
there is still cigarette smoke here.
- Wanchai
Computer Center - located next to the Wanchai
MTR, it
has two floors of shops. It could get a bit crowded though.
- Star House - next to
the Star Ferry Pier in TST
in Kowloon; some stores not open on Sundays. It is one of the
more pleasant computer shopping centers. Unfortunately, the
number of stores seems to be in decline.
(2008.2)
- chain-stores
- there are a few chain
stores that sell computers and electronic products. Good
to check their prices first.
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Phones / stereo
/ electronic parts |
Above:
Ap Liu Street |
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Furniture |
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- Hollywood Road - located
in Central,
this street is known for antique and cool furniture.
- Wong Nai Chung Road - located
in Happy Valley
next to the horse race track, there are many designer furniture
stores.
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Cell
Phones |
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Antiques |
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- Hollywood Road - there are plenty of stores selling antiques
there. From spectacles to furniture, you can find them there.
But don't expect bargains!
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Shopping
Malls |
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There are some malls where you can find a variety of goods. Convenient
ones include :
- Elements
: linked to the Kowloon MTR
Station on the Tung Chung line.
- New Town Plaza : linked
to the Shatin MTR Station
and some other shopping centers. The Snoopy house is around
there. But beware, the mall is very crowded.
- Ocean Center : in TST
on Canton Road close to the Tsim
Sha Tsui MTR
station. It is also linked to a few other shopping centers like
Ocean
Terminal. It gets sort of crowded too.
- Cityplaza
: A nice mall with an ice-skating rink and cinema on Hong
Kong Island, linked to the Taikoo MTR
station. (see more comments)
- Pacific
Place : on Hong Kong Island, linked to the Admiralty
station of the MTR,
complete with a cinema.
- Telford Plaza : in Kowloon,
linked to the Kowloon Bay MTR
station.
- Grand Century Place : a
mall linked to the MTR
Mongkok East Station, complete with a cinema. Count on it being
crowded - after all, it is in Mongkok!
- Times
Square : a mall linked to the Causeway
Bay MTR
station, complete with a cinema.
- Lok Fu : a shopping center
with local clientiel; linked to the Lok Fu MTR
station.
- Festival
Walk : linked to the Kowloon Tong MTR
station, complete with ice-skating rink, movie theatres, food
court, and a supermarket.
- Plaza
Hollywood : linked to the Diamond Hill MTR
station. Doesn't seem as crowded as others.
- Citygate
Outlets : a small mall linked to the MTR
station in Tung Chung with mainly outlet stores.
|
Above:
Plaza
Hollywood
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Above: Citygate
Outlets |
|
 Cityplaza
is one place that I like. It is
not overly crowded. It has some interesting water fountains
- like the one shown to the right here: the big spherical
pot in the middle fills up with water gradually and then
rolls to empty it. Down the hill from this mall is the Kornhill
Shopping Center with a big Japanese department store (complete
with a supermarket).
Cityplaza also has an ice-skating
rink. 
Festival
Walk is the one of the newer malls. It
is huge also. Among other things it has a giant bookstore
with plenty of English titles, a large ice-skating rink (in
the mall, not in the bookstore!), and many restaurants. mo |
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