Exploring the beauty of our changing local districts

Taking a tram ride eastwards from Central, you become aware of the contrast between the modern buildings of the financial district and the traditional Chinese markets of Wan Chai. Let’s slow down for a minute, and take in an everyday scene at a Wan Chai street market, where stall owners are opening their shutters to sell their goods in the busy lanes. On Tai Yuen Street there are bright, colourful piles of fruit and vegetables, people are bargaining for best of the day’s seafood catch, fresh meat is being chopped, and stallholders are enthusiastically sharing information on the best way to prepare their raw ingredients. In this “cold” digital age, the intimacy of the market lanes allows customers and traders to interact more like friends and neighbours than people making business transactions.

Most of the small businesses in the market lanes are family-run, passed down from generation to generation and supported by neighbourly word of mouth and loyal customers. But these days, rapid urban development and escalating rents are changing the character of these old neighbourhoods. Long-term businesses are disappearing, and as craftsmen age, traditional trades and crafts are becoming less commonplace. As we enter a new month, and a new year, why not take a moment to explore the everyday world of the communities around you and reflect on the history and beauty of our changing local districts.

Kam Po Printing
Location: Stall no. 2, Tai Yuen Street
Owner: Hung-gor

Named after stall-owner Hung-gor’s father, this 73-year-old business was once the sole manufacturer of handcrafted moon cake moulds on Hong Kong Island, with products exported throughout Southeast Asia. Later, Kam Po was transformed into a printing business, and today it still produces handcrafted cards and the seals used by Taoist priests to create talismanic symbols on ceremonial papers.

Fung-Gor’s Bag Stall
Location: Stall no. 20, Tai Yuen Street
Owner: Fung-gor

Fung-gor and his wife are among the youngest stallholders at the Tai Yuen Street market. They first started working here to give themselves more time and flexibility to take care of their children. The years fly past. It’s now over a decade since they first set up – but the couple are content with the leisurely pace of life on the market.

Mrs Choi’s Grocery Stall
Location: Stall no. 112, Tai Yuen Street
Owner: Mrs Choi

 “I’m a Wan Chai local,” says Mrs Choi. She enjoys working on the market, setting up a table and a few stools, creating a place that brings people together. Sometimes neighbours bring their grandchildren to her stall and she looks after them for a while, or elderly friends sit down for a chat and a rest. Mrs Choi also teaches migrant workers how to make Chinese soup and other dishes. She likes the sense of communal belonging that the neighbourhood creates.