Sham Shui Po

Sham Shui Po is Hong Kong at its most utilitarian: a densely populated residential and wholesale district that has never been polished for tourism and retains the character of the city's working commercial culture in a way that the more-visited central areas no longer do. The Apliu Street electronics flea market — open daily, peak at weekends — is a kilometre-long open-air market for second-hand phones, cables, electronic components, retro games hardware, and general technological salvage that has no direct equivalent elsewhere in the city.

The fabric wholesale district on Ki Lung Street and its surrounding lanes is where dressmakers, fashion students, and small clothing manufacturers source materials. The range covers silk, cotton, embroidered panels, lace trimmings, and novelty fabrics at prices well below retail; the shops are used to working with non-Chinese-speaking customers.

Golden Computer Centre and the adjacent Golden Arcade are multi-floor electronics markets in a now-ageing format that was the standard for Hong Kong technology retail before the internet. Stalls sell new components, software, second-hand machines, and retro gaming cartridges. The buildings are no longer the cutting edge of Hong Kong's tech trade, but they retain a community of specialist dealers with deep knowledge of their categories.

Sham Shui Po was the point of resettlement for many refugees from the mainland in the late 1940s and 1950s, and the food culture reflects this: Shanghainese soup dumplings and Chiu Chow cold dishes appear alongside Cantonese congee and noodles at prices that remain close to those of fifty years ago in inflation-adjusted terms.