Stanley Market, Hong Kong

Ladies market, night market, flower market, cloths market and so on. I have heard markets called by many names but Stanley is not one of them! It is so incongruous, at least to me, but then there it was.

Before heading for Hong Kong we had made a list of street markets to visit. Most were not far from each other in Kowloon, but Stanley market in Hong Kong was the odd man out. Our plan was, if we have some spare time we will visit this place. However the intrigue of the name was so much that it was almost the very first market we visited.

Stanley market is situated in a southern village in the island of HK, called, you guessed it, Stanley. 😀

A quick research told us that the only way to reach is by road. There is no MTR connection. We decided to take the double-decker bus from Central Bus Terminus in Exchange Square. We checked our Octopus cards and boarded the MTR to Central and then bus number, 6A.

I think this was one of the best decisions, as we had the best view of the streets of HK and at the fraction of the cost. At places, it seemed as if we could reach out and shake hands with the people living in the buildings along the narrow streets. Eventually the bus dropped us off at Stanley Bus Stop. It took us almost an hour or so to reach the place.

Vasu had dozed off somewhere along the way and woke up with a jolt. A quick recce and we found the old Stanley village (Chek Chue in Chinese) was now the market itself. This was NOT strictly a street market. However, there were several newer residential areas in the Stanley District. Many westerners live here. The place has school, church and of course the market!

3D greeting cards

The atmosphere at Stanley market, Hong Kong was gay with people calling us to look at their wares, much like India. There were several shops selling clothes and bags and accessories and sports wear and souvenirs. Is it touristy and pricey? You bet. However, our life long training in India helped us to bargain for what we thought was the best prices (in comparison to back home prices) for some articles we bought. I guess one can do all their shopping here except electronics, if one is adept in bargaining. We especially had fun bargaining for a Disney Suitcase. The shop owner was equal to our skills but in the end he had to succumb to our combined force. 😀

There is a small plaza and small mall (very very small by HK or any standards), we did not explore this much as we had had enough of malls. A few turns this way and that way, we reached the water front lined with bars and restaurants. All crowded and filled with tourists to the brim. We spent some time in the only bar showing some Cricket. We hardly found an eating place that we liked and in the end had to settle for McD. 🙁

Tips:-
1. One needs at least half-a-day to be able to come and go as this is definitely not in the
standard tourists 3N4D map.
2. No metro but a bus will take you there. You can use your Octopus cards.
3. Bargain hard, you’ll have success. 😀

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