Hong Kong is packed full of fascinating markets, and you’ll discover the best of them on this Kowloon market tour, as we get up close and personal with where Hong Kong locals have shopped for over 100 years, and continue to do so, despite the development rising up around them.

We kick this Hong Kong markets tour off on a fragrant note at the Flower Market, a vibrant and colourful street market consisting of more than 50 shops. A jungle of exotic blossoms, luck-bringing houseplants, and sweet scents, it’s the perfect introduction to the markets in Kowloon.

Next, it’s onto the nearby Yuen Po Street Bird Garden, a charming Chinese-style garden with songbird stalls, traditional Chinese courtyards, and moon gates. Soak up the peaceful surroundings and listen to the charming sound of thousands of birds - it’s easy to forget about the crazy city streets that lie just outside the gates!  

As we travel along this Hong Kong city tour, we’ll continue to help you orient yourself, understanding whereabouts in the city you are, where Kowloon ends and the New Territories begin, and how we get to mainland China from here. We’ll also point out a mountain that is a true Hong Kong landmark and local symbol, to ensure you’re thinking just like a local.

Now’s the time to practice your bargaining skills at a popular local street market where vendors sell bargain-priced clothes, bags, and accessories. If you’re not up for bargaining, it’s still loads of fun to experience the atmosphere of the market, set deep within the neighbourhood of Mong Kok. As the world’s most densely populated neighbourhood, Mong Kok is home to more than 130,000 people per square kilometre! Take a minute to digest that before we head out down Nathan Road, passing by the newly built five-star Langham Place hotel and mall, before reaching Shanghai Street.

On Shanghai Street you’ll have the chance to glimpse what 1950s and 60s Hong Kong was like. Shanghai Street was once famous for selling everything from traditional wedding clothes to ancestral offerings, and it’s here that we’ll head into the Yau Ma Tei fruit market, a century-old wholesale market that sells exotic fruits from all over the world. From there, we’ll also call by the world-famous Jade Market, which has more than 400 hawkers, and learn about how locals believe jade can ward off health hazards and bad feng shui.

The final stop on this walking tour of Kowloon’s markets is a visit to Temple Street. See the city’s working class culture first-hand as you admire the Sea Goddess Temple that is the street’s namesake, and the Yau Ma Tei Public Plaza, where local people like to spend a lazy afternoon under the beautiful Chinese Banyan trees.

This is a market tour that shows you the real local culture of Hong Kong and the fascinatingly diverse neighbourhoods of Kowloon, and we’re sure you’ll leave with a head full of excitement and perhaps even a few unique souvenirs and treasures of your own!