Tai Po Hui Market

📍Tai Po|⏱45min |🍜Local |📸 Vibrant

This traditional Hong Kong market feels like stepping into old Hong Kong. Established since the 17th century, Tai Po Hui is a classic wet market with over 260 stores selling different fruits, vegetables, meat, and seafood on the ground floor.

Each stall holds a vibrant piece of history. Food stacked high, colours bouncing around, and the hustling and bustling of store owners shouting across stalls. Almost like a fever dream!

Floor 3 is the Cooked Food Centre (aka. food court) with 40 stalls selling Hong Kong local specialties.

Market hours: 6am to 8pm
Cooked Food Centre hours: 7:30am to 9:30pm

⭐ 7.5/10 – Vibrant, lively, and full of history

Ladies Market

📍Mong Kok|⏱45min|🛍️Gift|💸Haggle

If you’ve never bargained before, the Ladies Market in Hong Kong is the perfect place to make your debut. Stretching about 1 km, this famous street market in Mong Kok has over 100 stalls selling souvenirs, clothes, accessories, gadgets, and even knock-off brands.

Before noon, the street is quiet. By 12 pm it comes alive as vendors set up their tents and fill the air with energy (and great deals).

Bargaining isn’t just allowed at the Ladies Market, it’s expected. Prices often start high, especially for tourists, but haggling is part of the experience and can actually be fun!

I saw this firsthand when I visited with my friend from the Netherlands to buy a leather notebook. The vendor asked if she was with me; when I said yes, he admitted he would’ve charged her more if she wasn’t. The phase he used was “you help your own people.” I’m a Chinese Canadian who speaks Cantonese, so I understand that it’s part of the culture, though it still surprised me.

Stanley Market

📍 Stanley | ⏱ 30 min | 🛍️ Souvenirs & artisan goods | 🌊 Seaside stroll

Stanley Market in Hong Kong feels like the kind of place where you wander through narrow alleys and actually find a hidden gem. Although smaller than Ladies market, its charm lies in the unique mix of local artisan shops, art, souvenirs, custom-made items, unique LED signs, and so much more!

My favourite discovery is a small shop that custom hand-carved stone name stamps, known as “chops.” You can choose the stone style and have your name carved in English or as a Chinese translation of your family name. These stamps are traditionally used as a signature and make a meaningful, one-of-a-kind souvenir from Hong Kong.

After exploring the market, head to the Stanley Promenade just steps away. The seaside path is lined with restaurants and cafés, making it the perfect place to relax with ocean views after shopping.

Tai Kiu Market

📍Yuen Long |⏱20 min |📸 Lanterns

Come to Tai Kui market during Mid-Autumn festival month and you’ll be walking into a sea of colourful, hand-made lanterns. Each year, there are around 1000 lanterns on display to buy, the most popular are the sparkly goldfishes, but there are more designs like characters, turtles and other animals. I LOVE lanterns and it’s soft glow of warm light so this place felt very warm and fuzzy for me. I bought a red goldfish lantern and still have it in my room! This was the best souvenir I brought home! 

Apliu Street Flea Market

📍Sham Shui Po | ⏱45 min |📱Tech & Gadgets

Apliu Street Flea Market is electronics heaven! There are so many stalls specialized in selling 1 or 2 items. If you want nails and screw drivers, you find some. If you want electronic gadgets, phone chargers, and tripods, it’ll be here. Micro SD cards, film cameras, tools, toys; everything. An engineer’s dream (I am not an engineer). If you want to buy cheap and usable physical sim cards, IT’S HERE! I bought all my sim cards at Apliu Street Flea Market and I had no problems.

Fun fact: Hong Kong phones are not compatible with eSims which is why physical sims are popular.

There are also local food stalls like a soy bean shop that sold locally made tofu and soy drinks, and this herbal cooling drink intended to reduce pimples.