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Tram jingling into market

A unique scene in Hong Kong, and probably in the world:The tram disappearing into the buzzing market, and then slowly emerging from it.The scene is part of the Chun Yeung Street Market in North Point on Hong Kong Island.

To me, the old Hong Kong comes alive in the market, flanked on two sides by old buildings and stalls selling cheap clothes and daily necessities, as well as vegetables, fruit and grocery. The market, littered with rubbish and abandoned cartons, reflects the daily living of the ordinary people, in particular the working class. In fact, this area has always been inhabited by immigrants from the mainland, those working hard to make a living upon arrival in Hong Kong.

North Point was called Little Shanghai during the years after 1949, when the Communist Party took power in the mainland, and some Shanghainese moved to Hong Kong and settled here. Later, the area was inhabited more by people from Fujian province, so it was called Little Fujian accordingly. Nowadays the area is gradually inhabited by people from the Zhejiang province. But in the Chun Yeung Street Market, you can still detect traces of Fujian influence and can easily find stores and restaurants that sell Fujian food.

North Point is relatively “undeveloped” compared to its neighboring areas, Causeway Bay towards the west, and the Tai Koo Shing towards the east. Sandwiched between these two “rich” areas, North Point still retains the ambience of old Hong Kong.

At the King’s Road where the tram turns to from the market, stands Wah Fung Chinese department store, which used to be the biggest Chinese department store in Hong Kong. While the Chinese department stores in Hong Kong have folded one by one over the years, Wah Fung survives and so does the low-end Metropole department store located nearby, which has been opened since 1974.How to get to the market: North Point MTR station, exit A2.

By Anna

With a wanderlust and lusts of other sorts, I look to sth new, sth different, sth fulfilling, and find myself on a journey...

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