“Hong Kong is renowned for its shopping, and we spent a day taking in some of the different options on offer. First stop was the renowned Nathan Road, often called the “Golden Mile” for its shopping opportunities. Starting at the harbour and heading north, Nathan Road is Hong Kong’s commercial heart, and offers everything from jewellery and souvenirs to hi-fi’s and cameras. It’s a hectic, full-on part of the City, although Kowloon Park, located part way up Nathan Road, offers a welcome respite to the hubbub of the shopping.
We weren’t just window-shopping, though – we were on a mission! First on our list was a Sony PSP, so we headed to the shopping centres of Tsim Sha Tsui East, where the cheapest electronic gadgets could be found. This area of Kowloon is built on reclaimed land and is home to various shopping centres – compare prices in different shops before you buy, and be sure to take your knowledge of other shops prices with you to barter the prices down. We managed to get the price down quite considerably, and a free game thrown in too! What’s more, this being the Far East, we got the latest model in a limited edition colour.
Next on the list was Tiger Balm, the Far East’s miracle cure-all – OK, so you can buy it in the UK and on pretty much every street corner across the Far East, but in the spirit of shopping, we headed to the Temple Street area of Kowloon, an area with a traditional Chinese feel. Temple Street itself comes to life at night with its superb night market, but we headed for a department store for our purchase as it was daytime. For a city that’s had such a strong British influence for so many years, Hong Kong can be surprisingly ‘Chinese’ at times, and this area of Kowloon typifies this - we did manage to get our purchase in the department store, but it really felt that we’d entered a different country to the westernised glitz further down Nathan Road.
Finally, I wanted to get a Maneki Neko – a Chinese lucky cat – for our office, as they’re supposed to bring prosperity (even the plastic, battery operated ones!) so it was back down to Nathan Road, where you can buy anything and everything. A couple of shops and HKG$20 later and I’d got exactly what I wanted – a gold, waving cat that now sits proudly on our filing cabinet!
Our advice for a day shopping in Hong Kong would be to treat it as a sightseeing trip, rather than a shopping expedition – take in the different areas of the city to buy different items. It’s good to have specific items in mind as there’s simply so much on offer, and bartering in certain shops is the name of the game – know what you want to pay before you even leave your hotel!”
Links:
For holidays to Hong Kong visit http://www.escapeworldwide.co.uk/asia/destin/Hkg.shtml
View our Hong Kong photo gallery: http://www.farawayescapes.co.uk/gallery/Escape%20Worldwide%20Hong%20Kong%20General%20Photo%20Gallery/
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We weren’t just window-shopping, though – we were on a mission! First on our list was a Sony PSP, so we headed to the shopping centres of Tsim Sha Tsui East, where the cheapest electronic gadgets could be found. This area of Kowloon is built on reclaimed land and is home to various shopping centres – compare prices in different shops before you buy, and be sure to take your knowledge of other shops prices with you to barter the prices down. We managed to get the price down quite considerably, and a free game thrown in too! What’s more, this being the Far East, we got the latest model in a limited edition colour.
Next on the list was Tiger Balm, the Far East’s miracle cure-all – OK, so you can buy it in the UK and on pretty much every street corner across the Far East, but in the spirit of shopping, we headed to the Temple Street area of Kowloon, an area with a traditional Chinese feel. Temple Street itself comes to life at night with its superb night market, but we headed for a department store for our purchase as it was daytime. For a city that’s had such a strong British influence for so many years, Hong Kong can be surprisingly ‘Chinese’ at times, and this area of Kowloon typifies this - we did manage to get our purchase in the department store, but it really felt that we’d entered a different country to the westernised glitz further down Nathan Road.
Finally, I wanted to get a Maneki Neko – a Chinese lucky cat – for our office, as they’re supposed to bring prosperity (even the plastic, battery operated ones!) so it was back down to Nathan Road, where you can buy anything and everything. A couple of shops and HKG$20 later and I’d got exactly what I wanted – a gold, waving cat that now sits proudly on our filing cabinet!
Our advice for a day shopping in Hong Kong would be to treat it as a sightseeing trip, rather than a shopping expedition – take in the different areas of the city to buy different items. It’s good to have specific items in mind as there’s simply so much on offer, and bartering in certain shops is the name of the game – know what you want to pay before you even leave your hotel!”
Links:
For holidays to Hong Kong visit http://www.escapeworldwide.co.uk/asia/destin/Hkg.shtml
View our Hong Kong photo gallery: http://www.farawayescapes.co.uk/gallery/Escape%20Worldwide%20Hong%20Kong%20General%20Photo%20Gallery/
Comments: (0) Plug this item! (2) Tell a friend
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