Temple Street Night Market

Temple Street, in the heart of Kowloon, comes alive after dark as Hong Kong's most famous and atmospheric night market, a buzzing, neon-lit strip that captures the flavour of the old city. Stalls sell everything from trinkets and clothes to jade, while fortune-tellers and, on some nights, Cantonese opera singers ply their trades. The real draw, though, is the food: open-air dai pai dong eateries and seafood stalls serving up clay-pot rice, spicy crab, grilled seafood and cheap, delicious street fare into the night.

History

The street already appears on an 1887 map of Kowloon, then in two halves, north and south of the Tin Hau temple that gave it its name. From the 1920s the square in front of the temple, known as Banyan Tree Head, became an open-air gathering place, and stalls selling odds and ends and snacks grew up around it. When a community centre was planned beside the square in 1968, more than 200 hawkers were moved to pitches of three by four feet along Temple Street and Shanghai Street, handed out by lottery, and in March 1975 the Urban Council made the street a licensed hawker area with some 600 marked pitches. The archway at the Jordan Road end, 10.5 metres high, was unveiled on 18 December 2010 (Chinese Wikipedia, 廟街 (香港)).

Highlights

• The dai pai dong eateries - the open-air stalls of clay-pot rice and seafood.
• The market stalls - the trinkets, clothes and jade.
• The fortune-tellers - the palm and face readers along the street.
• The street-food snacks - the local snacks and cheap eats.

When to go

The market runs in the evening, liveliest from around 7pm; the cooler, drier months from October to April are the most comfortable for wandering and eating outdoors. Come hungry and graze the stalls and dai pai dong for the full experience.

Good to know

It is a touristy market, and the goods are mostly cheap trinkets, while some haggling and a few tourist-trap prices come with the territory, so it is more about atmosphere and street food than shopping bargains. The old dai pai dong culture has shrunk over the years. As a lively, neon-lit taste of old Kowloon night life and cheap local eats, though, it delivers.

Nearby

The Jade Market, Tin Hau Temple and the bright lights of Mong Kok are nearby.

Key facts