Name: Ip Sui Lun
SID: 03576204

ANT1410B      Final Paper
A Study of Tung Choi Street and Fa Yeun Street

In this paper, I am going to present the characteristics and phenomenon of two popular streets in Hong Kong, they are the Tung Choi Street and Fa Yuen Street. They are the targets of my study because both of them shows a long history of buying and selling activities. By looking at these strrets, we can discover the change in Hong Kong culture by means of the goods and products selling in the streets. The paper will be of four sections:

i) introduction to Tung Choi Street and Fa Yuen Steet
ii) goods and services that can be found in the two strrets
iii) people inside the streets
iv) future aspect of the two strrets

In my paper, I have included a survey of youngsters to show their atiitudes towards Tung Choi Street and Fa Yuen Street. I will discuss it briefly in section iii.

I hope readers can discover the interesting things inside the two streets and go to have a look if have time.

Introduction to Tung Choi Street and Fa Yuen Street

Both Tung Choi Street and Fa Yuen Street are located in the city centre, the crowdest place in Hong Kong - Mongkok (please refer to the map above). Both of them are old strrets, the buildings nearby are also aged. the two streets are highly accessible, one can go there by MTR, minibus or bus. However, traffic congestion often occurs within the region, because the flow of people here is tremendous. Luckily, due to high amount of pedestrian flow inside the streets, government applied pedestrian scheme to ban vehicles moving into the streets during particular time, like public holidays. Therefore the people in the streets can avoid sharing the street with cars, which helps improving air conditions and reduce accidents as well. But it does not mean that the street is wide enough to pass through easily. Actually, it is due to the special patterns of settlements of shops here.

Originally, the two sides of streets are of shops located at the ground floor of buildings only, the road inside is quite wide, but at about noon time, until at mid-night, ''temporary'' shops appear along the two sides of the road, which in fact occupied about one half of the width of the road. This is a very interesting features, which can be found not only in Tung Choi Street and Fa Yuen Street, but also in Shum Shui Po and other areas. Some people do not not like it, but more, are actually attracted by this setting.

Inside the street, space is limited resources, as a shop keeper, he or she cannot put their goods outside their boundaries, which offends the law or angers other shop keepers (shop-to-shop are lniked or separated by a small path only). So, they have to use their methods to show the largest amount of goods by using the least amount of space, such as hanging them higher, which at the same time easier to be seen. On the other hand, the street is narrowed by these shops, the pedestrian can only moves slowly, they then actively or passively look at the goods. During holidays or at night, people in the strret are too much to walk fast, it may takes over 15 minutes to pass through the streets.

Besides the strrets are narrow, another characteristics of the streets are the noise. People do shopping and the sales people always talk endlessly, they have to shout in order to catch the eyes. People bargain, chat, laugh, mixed with the engine outside the streets. It is another world compare to any single shopping mall in the city. However, people still like to go here for shopping. From old people to youngsters, the market of the two streets are very large. They, have their reasons.

Goods and services that can be found in the two strrets

One and probably the major reason of the large amount of visitors to the street, is due to the vast amount of variety of products selling here. For example, clothing, accessories, toys, fruits, snacks, drinks, etc. The items are so many, and the price is so low, therefore the large number of people is understandable. Here I am going to talk deeper towards the goods selling in these two streets respectively, manily based on todays scene in that two streets.

Firstly is the Tung Choi Street. In Cantonese, ''Tung Choi'' means a kind of vegetable. Actually, it has a nickname, known as ''woman street''. You may guess that there are many consumer goods for woman, but it is only partially correct. There are actually many kinds of goods, which also atrracts males. There are cheap clothings like colourful T-shirt, Trousers, socks, hat, underwear, shirts, bags, children clothes, everything. They are cheap because most are from mainland, they may be fake brand. However, the quality is not bad. Here, most things can be bargained, you may get a lower price of a product if you are skillful enough. Here, buying gives no pressure, everyone just pick up one thing, if you like it, you take out the cash. Credict card is impossible, here is easy buying - pay then go. Later, we will discuss why the teenagers in Hong Kong, who are supposed to be brand-oriented, still like going here as a place to go during leisure. The fact is, the goods selling here do not need to worry for market, shopkeepers make their livings easily if they can sell more by even a low price.

Another Street, the Fa Yuen Street, also sell similar things, but sell more fruits, snacks, etc. ''Fa Yuen'' means ''Garden'' in Cantonese, it is just like a garden, that many things can be found here. Lovely toys for kids, costing you unfder a hundred, cheap but healthy fruits, smart schoolbags and lorry cap, local foods and drinks costing you just ten or twenty. Giving you 500 you may only buy one trouser in Levis but you can pay for many many things here. Inside Fa Yuen Strret, there are some special shops inside the buildings such as the Tam Choi Kee, selling interesting furniture, vase, candles, etc.

In both streets, things are many and cheap. Other than these, there are still other things we can notice. First of all, most shopkeepers are family-based, the original owners may be died or still working here, with their sons or daughters, helping the business. Their selling method is old-styled, but works. Actually, a single ''boss'' may own more than one shops, scattering in different locations of the street, to sell similar types of products. For example, those selling the hats and caps. Sometimes they use some tricks to boost selling in one shop of these but especially lower price in that shop. Other than buying single items, it is also possible to order many, such as trousers, you can order 20 and ask them to do it for you, according to your list of sizes. This is also a common activites other than retailing service.

people inside the streets

The number of type of people in the streets is just like the amount of types of products selling in the streets, there are many. Usually. they are not the rich. Rich people usually avoid dirty, requires comfort. The streets are too polluted for them, they have no mood to walk in such a hot place. They do not have to find for chaep things. But for the poorer, they can sarisfy their own in the streets. We can classify them into a few types to study.

First of all, the housewife. They are woman aged between 40-60, they like shopping for cheaper items. For them, finding for cheap things can be a kind of entertainment. They can bear the pollution and hot weather, may be taking their children to walk in the street and pick up whatever things and bargain.

Secondly, is the elderly, they have been in Hong Kong together with the two streets for long. After retired, they still want to have a walk on streets to kill their time. Maybe walking, watching people and things are enjoyable for them. Popular shops for them may be those selling watches or other old things.

Mant tourists coming to Hong Kong also love Tung Choi Street and Fa Yuen Street, they are attracted because they want to feel the crowded scene and see what happen other than the Peak, the Ocean Park and the hotel. They are sweated to buy interesting things like T-shirt printed with Hong Kong logo, or some accessories, glasses, etc. Those shops targets tourists only. Hong Kongers surely would not be interested.

Here, I am going to talk about a type of people as my focus, teenagers in Hong Kong, which is also a large proportion of consumer in the two strrets. I have conducted a small survey. 20 of my friends (aged 19-22) are investigated. Two questions are asked:

1. do u frequently visit Fa Yuen Strret and Tung Choi Strret? If yes, why?
2. what is the most common activity you do there?

For the first question, 18 out of 20 say yes to the question, that they are frequently in the two streets. Their reasons are mostly due to cheap local food and acessories like silver rings, earings. For boys, they like the T-shirts which are cheap but good-looking. Girls especially like the clothes selling in the end of Fa Yuen Street. However, they said never buying fake brand clothing like trousers there, because it is too ugly for them. I think because most of us are students and do not have income yet, we cannot spend a lot of money buying expensive brand names, therefore we try our best to buy alternatives in these streets, which are actually not too bad in quality.

Another reason - food, is also good to mention. The snacks and drinks, what we called street food, are unhealthy but popular among Hong Kong young people.

For the second question, it is interstingly to find that many of them are not going to shopping at the very beginning, everytime they just planned to have a walk and chat happily in that noisy area, but they always have impulse buying in the street. The average expediture on the street is about $50.

Interestingly, the younsters also like the two streets.

 future aspect of the two strrets

The two streets are becoming characteristics of Hong Kong nowadays, and even the most densely populated region. They are so colourful and active, government should try its best to preserve the two places and think of ideas to improve, such as improving the lighting, prevent cheating, and crime in the streets. It is expected that the two streets will be as popular as now it is.