Western District

Hong Kong Island's Western District is one of the oldest and most typically Chinese areas in Hong Kong. (Take the MTR to Sheung Wan or the tram to Western Market.) Here you'll find craftsmen making mah-jongg tiles, opera costumes, fans, and chops (seals carved in stone with engraved initials); Chinese-medicine shops selling ginseng, snake musk, shark's fin, and powdered lizards; rice shops and rattan-furniture dealers; and cobblers, tinkers, and tailors. You'll also come across alleyways where merchants have set up stalls filled with knick-knacks and curios.
The streets behind Western Market are some of the best places to soak up some of Hong Kong's traditional Chinese atmosphere. Wing Lok Street and Bonham Strand West are excellent browsing areas, with shops selling herbs, rice, tea, and Chinese medicines.

Heading uphill, don't miss the stalls selling bric-a-brac on Ladder Street, which angles down from Queen's Road in Central to Hollywood and Caine roads. Hollywood Road is lined with stores selling Chinese antiques and collectibles; it turns into Wyndham Street in Central.

Two of Hong Kong's largest Western-style department stores, Sincere and Wing On, are technically in Central but you will pass them as you are walking from Western to Central. The Sincere Company, which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, is run by the third generation of the Ma family, grandchildren of the founder Ma Ying-piu. Sincere was the first store to give paid days off to employees, the first to showcase newly arrived imported merchandise in store windows, the first to hire women in sales positions, and the first to establish a fixed-price policy backed up by the regionally novel idea of issuing receipts.

Yaumatei and Mongkok

North of Jordan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui's bright lights and big-city world give way to tenements and overcrowding. You could visit this area in conjunction with Nathan Road. But if you're planning a day of hunting and gathering, skip Nathan Road shops and start here. You can find great deals as well as fakes, pickpockets, and shopkeepers with no-return policies. Truly a place to enjoy the bargaining and the chaos of it all.

Sporting Goods
Bunns Diving Equipment 217 Sai Yee St., tel. 2380-5344

Bunns Diving Equipment is the biggest dive shop in Hong Kong.

Marathon Sports Pacific Place, Admiralty, tel. 2524-6992

Marathon Sports, with a dozen stores on both sides of the harbor, carries equipment and clothing for tennis players and golfers.

Po Kee Fishing Tackle Company 6 Hillier St., tel. 2543-7541

Po Kee Fishing Tackle Company has everything the fisherman needs.