You can buy anything in Hong Kong, you just have to know where to look. From the vast shopping malls (almost everywhere!) containing designer clothing outlets of the likes of Louis Vuitton and Giorgio Armani to the sprawling street markets wheere you can find jewelry, clothing, fake designer handbags, fake designer watches, toys, games, trinkets, food of all descriptions there’s even an area where you can buy kittens, puppies and goldfish! The Kowloon regions of Mong Kok, YauMaTei and Tsim Sha Tsui form the epicenter of street markets within Hong Kong. Of the many markets the most well known and largest are the Ladies Market (see below) and Temple Street Night Market that span several streets’ worth of precious Hong Kong space, implying above all else their importance to locals not just tourists. Others such as the Jade Market, Goldfish Market and Fruit Market are smaller but still draw the crowds of locals and visitors alike. All lie within walking distance of each other and can be a fun day’s worth of meandering along busy streets, watching the buzz and energy of people going about their lives beneath brightly coloured signs and adverts overhead. Just be sure to watch out for the taxis!
There’s so much bustle and jostling going on in and around the markets, deliveries to and from stalls, squeaking of the trollies as they rush by, stall hands calling out for attention of their wares and the people haggling over their value of goods. Alien languages cry out from one side of the tight walk-way  to the next as their keepers discuss the last deal made – did they fleece yet another unwitting tourist I wonder? A concoction of smells wafting out from each stall as the occupants grab a quick meal between visiting customers or even a quick nap away from prying eyes during another long day. It’s completely safe to wander around with a camera and see what to pick out, I was trying to see what happens beyond the view of a tourist and all the glittery stalls, where the objects for sale are doing the moving around – assisted by the vendors at each stall. I tried to keep a polite distance whilst looking for shots to create the story of the market, though in a heavily populated country such as this I’ve no idea what a polite distance cold be…still, I received no objections which I took to be a good sign at least.
Near the Mong Kok MTR (Hong Kong’s underground rail network – very efficient!) is the Ladies Market on Tung Choi Street. Originating as a place for women to buy (mostly) clothes it has since transformed into a sprawling mass of stalls selling all manner of things, much like the one down in Wan Chai only spread over several blocks and as ever you just have to know what to look for and sped wisely when you find it. Part of the skill of spending wisely is to haggle, for everything. Haggling down from the initial asking price is expected by the vendors, I suspect they’d feel upset if you didn’t at least liven up their day with a bit of hard bartering going on. Nothing in the market has a price tag, if you express an interest one of the many stall hands will pounce and offer it to you for a fairly arbitrary and often greatly inflated price. As a rule you never take their first offer. I tried my hand when looking for a few things and went for the dead-pan approach when a ‘price’ was announced. A moment passed without a word from myself or the stall hand then, to break the silence I suspect, the ‘price’ was dropped some 25% right off the bat, this is usually an indicator that what it is actually worth is a fair bit lower still.  Happily I turned out to be reasonably ok at it and getting an item about 1/4 of the initial offered price. They put on pained expressions as you push them down on the price for things, part of their tactics are to hurry you along into buying before you fully haggle it out to your satisfaction! It’s fun to have a go at though and sticking to your ground really works to your benefit.