Mong Kok 旺角

This is by far the coolest place to go in Hong Kong. The heart of the local culture resides here. At the same time many visitors, known as "white ghosts" Goi Lao, come here to shop. The story behind this nickname goes back to the first time the locals here saw a white person. At that first meeting, they were frightened and thought we were ghosts because of our light skin color. So now they still call us this as merely a joke, not in a disrespectful way - although it may come across that way to us! Anyways - you name it, they got it here in Mong Kok. Shop 'til you drop in this chaotic center.


The nicest building here is Langham Place, which is an enormous mall. But most shops and markets are way down low at the street level. Many electronics can be purchased here, but you have to compare prices. If you are too hasty you may regret it when you notice that another store closeby is selling the item for less.


On top of price comparison, you can even go to markets with people running small booths. This jam-packed, thin streak of booths is a great way to get an amazing deal. Bargaining is the way of purchasing things in these markets. Let me give you an example by personal experience! I wanted to buy a simple HongKong magnet for my mom because she always wants magnets for the fridge from different places. The lady told me it cost 25HK dollars. I responded by saying, "Tai guai" which means "that's too expensive". Then I turned around to walk away. All of a sudden, I here the lady say, "10 dolla". With a burst of excitement, I smiled and nodded to her and got myself a nice magnet for less than 2 US dollars! You see, there are so much stuff to be sold here in these markets that the sellers are desperate to make any amount of money - to the point where they will take whatever they can get from the customer. I've done this strategy on a number of the items I have purchased, but I can't tell you about them because they are Christmas presents :)