Hong Kong Shopping

Hong Kong has a reputation as one of the world's greatest shopping cities, and although it now has serious competition from all over East Asia, it's still an amazing urban bazaar - a type of shopper's paradise.

Tsim Sha Tsui has the greatest concentration of shops in Hong Kong. Nathan Road, which runs through Kowloon for 4km (2 1/2 miles) from the harbor to the border of the New Territories, is lined with stores selling clothing, jewelry, eyeglasses, cameras, electronic goods, crafts from China, shoes, handbags, luggage, watches, and more. There are also tailors, tattoo artists, and even shops that will carve your name into a wooden chop. There are also department stores, Chinese emporiums, and shopping arcades, as well as several huge shopping malls. There are also specialist markets in Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok selling everything from clothing and flowers to goldfish, songbirds, and jade.

For upscale shopping, Central is the place where you'll find international designer labels. The Landmark and Prince's Building boast boutiques selling jewelry, clothing, leather goods and more. Central is also a good place to shop for Chinese imports and souvenirs.

Another shopping area is Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island. In addition to small shops selling everything from shoes and clothing to Chinese herbs, there are a couple of Japanese department stores and a large shopping complex called Times Square.

Stanley Market is located on the southern end of Hong Kong Island, where vendors sell silk clothing and business and casual wear. In recent years, shops specializing in Chinese crafts and products have also opened in Stanley Market .

Antiques and curio lovers usually head for Hollywood Road and Cat Street in the Western District on Hong Kong Island, where everything from snuff bottles to jade carvings and Ming vases is for sale. Chinese handcrafts, including porcelain, furniture, silk clothing, and embroidery, are sold in Chinese-product department stores and Chinese arts-and-crafts shops located on both sides of the harbor.

Hong Kong is a duty-free port, which means that imported goods are not taxed in the SAR with the exception of only a few luxury goods, such as tobacco, alcohol, and some petroleum products. What's more, there is no sales tax in Hong Kong. Thus, you can buy some goods in the SAR at a cheaper price than in the country where they were made. Clothing is probably one of the best buys in Hong Kong, simply because of the sheer quantity and variety.

CRC Department Store

Add: 488 Hennessy Rd Causeway Bay
Description: Geared toward the local market rather than tourists, this no-nonsense store carries porcelain, teapots, vases, tea, Chinese medicinal products, embroidery, silk jackets, brushes, ink stones, and other traditional products in addition to luggage, shoes, TVs, and household goods. It's open daily from 10am to 10pm.

Cat Street Galleries

Add: 38 Lok Ku Rd Central
Description: Cat Street Galleries, on a street parallel to Cat Street, houses several individually owned booths of arts and crafts and expensive antiques from the various dynasties, making it a good place to begin an antiques shopping odyssey. It's open Monday to Friday from 11am to 6pm and Saturday from 10am to 6pm.

Charlotte Horstmann and Gerald Godfrey

Address 3 Canton Rd., Shop 100D Tsim Sha Tsui, Ocean Terminal, Harbour City
Description: A favorite of well-to-do antiques collectors for more than 40 years. It's open Monday to Saturday from 9:30am to 6pm.

China Art

Add: 15 Hollywood Rd Central
Description: This family-owned shop, which has the elegance of an art gallery with its mixed displays of furniture and art, is one of Hong Kong's best for antique Chinese furniture, including chairs, tables, folding screens, chests, and wardrobes, mostly from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Located across from the Central Police Station, it's open Monday to Saturday from 10:30am to 6pm and Sunday from 11am to 6pm.

Dragon Culture

Add: 231 Hollywood Rd Sheung Wan
Description: One of the largest and most knowledgeable purveyors of antiques in Hong Kong. All Hong Kong shops are open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm.

Friendship Trading Company

Add: 105-107 Hollywood Rd Central
Description: This small shop with a friendly staff specializes in antique and modern porcelain vases and lacquered boxes. It's open Monday to Saturday from 9:30am to 6:30pm.

Hanart TZ Gallery

Add: 202 Henley Bldg., 2nd floor, 5 Queen's Rd Central
Description: This very tiny gallery (in the same building as American Express) has been exhibiting, promoting, and selling experimental art from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan since 1983. It's open Monday to Friday from 10am to 6:30pm and Saturday from 10:30am to 6pm.

Harbour City

Add: Canton Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui
Description: This is the largest of the megamalls, and certainly one of the largest in Asia. Some shops are closed on Sunday but otherwise the hours are about 10 or 11am to 8pm.

Lane Crawford Ltd

Add: 70 Queen's Rd Central, Lane Crawford House
Description: This upscale department store, with large clothing departments for the whole family, as well as shoes, handbags, silver, and crystal, has branches on both sides of the harbor (the branch at Pacific Place is probably the best) and is similar to established chain stores in England and the United States. This main store is open daily from 10am to 7:30pm.

Marks & Spencer

Add: Ocean Center, Harbor City, Canton Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui
Description: Known in Britain for its great prices on clothing and affectionately nicknamed "Marks & Sparks", this import from the United Kingdom (but with smaller sizes) is open daily from 10am to 8pm.

Mitsukoshi

Add: 500 Hennessy Rd Causeway Bay
Description: Mitsukoshi is a long-established department store; it first opened as a kimono shop in Japan in the 1600s and is still one of Japan's most exclusive stores. Today it houses the boutiques of well-known designers of shoes, accessories, and clothing, with high prices to match; it also carries lingerie, cosmetics, household goods, and toys. It's open daily from 10:30am to 10pm.

Pacific Place

Add: 88 Queensway Central
Description: Pacific Place is the largest and most ambitious commercial project to hit Central; in fact, it has shifted the city center toward the east. Besides three hotels, Pacific Place has a mall with 200 retail stores and restaurants and three major department stores (Marks & Spencer, Lane Crawford, and Seibu). Shops include the Body Shop, Cartier, Cerruti 1881, Escada, Herms, Hugo Boss, Joyce, Vivienne Tam, Prada, Shu Uemura, Tiffany & Co., and Chinese Arts and Crafts Ltd. Most shops are open daily from about 10:30am to 8pm.

Schoeni Art Gallery

Add: 21-31 Old Bailey St Central
Description: This 5,000-square-foot gallery shows contemporary Chinese oil paintings by both up-and-coming and established artists. Both are open Monday to Saturday from 10:30am to 6:30pm.

Seibu

Add: 88 Queensway Central, Pacific Place
Description: One of the largest department store chains in Japan (its Tokyo store is the third-largest department store in the world), this was Seibu's first store to open outside Japan. An upscale, sophisticated department store targeting Hong Kong's affluent yuppie population, it is the epitome of chic, from its Art Deco Italian furnishings to fashions from the world's top design houses. The food department in the basement is especially good, stocking many imported items that are not available elsewhere in Hong Kong. It's open Sunday to Wednesday from 10:30am to 8pm and Thursday to Saturday from 10:30am to 9pm.

Shanghai Tang

Add: 12 Pedder St Central, Pedder Building
Description: This is Chinese chic at its best, with neatly stacked rows of updated versions of traditional Chinese clothing, ranging from cheongsams and silk pajamas to padded jackets, caps, and shoes--all in bright, contemporary colors and styles. It's open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 8pm and Sunday from 11am to 7pm.

Sogo

Add: 555 Hennessy Rd Causeway Bay, East Point Center
Description: Sogo is much larger and more egalitarian than the other Japanese department stores listed above; its goods are cheaper and its prices lower. Consequently, the 12-story store is often packed (particularly on Sun), filled with families shopping for clothing, toys, furniture, household goods, and electrical appliances. In the second basement is a large supermarket. It's open daily from 10am to 10pm.

Times Square

Add: 1 Matheson St Causeway Bay
Description: This stylish center offers nine "themed" floors of shopping, including the Casual Living floor, the Home Furnishings floor, the Sports and Leisure floor, the Electronics floor, the Family Land floor with a play area and shops selling toys and children's clothing, and even several Food Forum floors with branches of well-known restaurants. Most shops are open daily from 10am to 9:30pm.

Toys "R" Us

Add: Shop 032, 5 Canton Rd Zone C (Ocean Terminal), Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui
Description: This is one of the largest, if not the largest, toy store in Hong Kong. A huge department store, it offers games, sporting goods, hobby goods, baby furniture, books, clothing, and, of course, toys galore, including toys from mainland China, Japan, and other Asian countries that never reach U.S. markets. It's open daily from 10am to 8pm.

True Arts & Curios

Address 89-91 Hollywood Rd Central
Description: This tiny shop is so packed with antiques and curios that there's barely room for customers. It's open Monday to Saturday from 10:30am to 6:30pm and Sunday from 2:30 to 6:30pm.

Wing On

Add: 211 Des Voeux Rd Central
Description: Founded in Shanghai almost a century ago and one of Hong Kong's oldest department stores, this main shop offers a wide selection of clothing, jewelry, accessories, and household items, with branches mostly in outlying areas. The main branch is open Monday to Friday from 10am to 7pm and Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 6:30pm.

Jade Market

Located on the junction of Kansu and Battery streets, this casual, open-air market boasts more than 400 stall owners. Starting at 10am it runs till about 3:30pm daily. But the best time to go is in the morning.

Mongkok/Ladies Street MTR

Mong Kok. At MTR Mong Kok Station, find the Bank Centre exit. Mongkok is the most densely populated district in the world. Once you leave the station walk down Nelson Street until you make it to Tung Choi Street. The night market is also known as Ladies Street, since it mostly sells ladies wear including clothing, cosmetics, etc. for bargain basement prices. Best time to visit Ladies Street is from 7 to 10 in the evening.