On my second day I started early and
headed over to Kowloon. I’d been told a lot about all the markets over here, so
was keen to check them out! I started with a ferry over there – and the view
was spectacular! I was a little camera trigger-happy on the ferry over to
Kowloon, but only included the best ones, don’t worry!
Once I arrived, I wandered the area
near the ferry port until heading north to the Jade, Goldfish and Flower Markets
– I was pretty excited for these. Basically, they are exactly what the names
suggest. The Jade Market occupied a small area and sold jade (or fade – fake jade
– good coining no?) jewellery, charms and ornaments. The other two markets took
over a street in the northern part of Kowloon and sold (pretty much exclusively)
fish and flowers respectively. They were all fantastic, the latter two specifically.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get any photos of the Jade Market as there weren’t
enough other tourists there to hide my camera behind. The Goldfish and Flower
Markets were a different matter though, and despite the stall-holders not being
too keen on photos being taken – even of the flowers - that didn’t stop me! Anyway...
Now, I’m a girl who enjoys watching tropical fish anyway, but the Goldfish Market
was great! As you walk down the street (Tung Choi Street to be exact), each little
shop along it houses an exciting array of fish, either in tanks or hanging plastic
bags. I took quite a lot of pics, but again only included the best ones! After
reaching the end of Tung Choi Street, I headed further north to Flower Market
Road. Man oh man, I love flowers. It smelt like absolute heaven down this road –
a refreshing break from the usual stench of China (OK, so not technically China,
but HK smelt as weird in a few places).
While in the area, I also went to the
Bird Market. This takes place in the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden, and not only
is it a market featuring a wide variety of beautiful birds for sale, it is also
a place where the bird-owners of Hong Kong can gather to socialise with each
other, while their birds do the same. One instance: two elderly men sat on a
bench chatting while their birds chirped away in their cages that had been hung
side by side. It was pretty interesting and cute to watch!
Not finished with the market scene, I
passed through Ladies’ Market. Don’t let the name fool you, it wasn’t just by
ladies for ladies. It sold anything and everything.
After all my market hopping, I went
back to the ferry area because each night at 8pm is the Symphony of Lights.
This is a short light show between the tallest buildings on Kowloon and Hong
Kong Island. It was pretty cute; the name sort of builds it up to be more
though, so don’t go expecting crazy impressive things. One of the better
vantage points for watching the Symphony was located along the Avenue of Stars –
Hong Kong’s answer to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood (definitely had to
look that up). Among the many Chinese actors and actresses (and there were a
lot) I finally spied two I’d actually heard of: Bruce Lee, and of course,
Jackie Chan!
One final market was on my list, then I
called it a night, and that was Temple Street Night Market (started around 6pm
and finished around midnight). This one was much larger than the other markets
I’d visited, and I think more popular amongst the tourist attractions of HK. Pretty
simple really, sold loads of different things from clothing, headphones and
suitcases to magnets, paintings and cartoon character-shaped USBs (this last
one was pretty cool).
Day 2 in pictures:
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| Taken while crossing on the ferry |
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| More street photos. LOL to the one on the right |
