Making A Night Of It ...

Temple Street Night Market.

It's been a very long time since I have been to Temple Street Market, and since there's a lot of talk at the moment about trying to revitalize it, I decided to go and have a look. To get there I headed off to Jordan by MTR, exited through exit A, then headed right along Jordan Road towards the entrance to Temple Street.

Temple Street Market is open in the evenings from around 4pm, seven days a week. I visited on a rainy Thursday evening, so it may not have been at its best. It certainly wasn't as crowded as I remember it.

Temple Street is instantly recognisable, because there are large Chinese style archways at both ends of it, making it look like the kind of Chinatown that can be found overseas. These archways only date back to 2010, but the market itself has been around a lot longer than that.

Archway at the entrance to Temple Street Market.

The Jordan end of the market.

The Yau Ma Tei end.

Temple Street Sign.

Temple Street takes its name from the Tin Hau Temple that is located in the middle of it. This is believed to date from around 1864 and used to be situated on the Yau Ma Tei Waterfront. It's now far from the sea due to land reclamation.

The Tin Hau Temple on Temple Street.

At the front of the temple there is a large public square and at the back there are gardens with seats and tables. There were groups of old men playing board games here, even on a dreary drizzly evening. The temple's surroundings may not always have looked exactly like this, but it has always provided large open spaces where people could gather in the evenings to get some air and escape the claustrophobia of the tiny flats they lived in. In the 1920's the large numbers of people who gathered here at night began attracting hawkers selling goods or snacks or drinks.

Old men playing mahjong.

Nine Dragons Wall behind the temple.

Gradually, as the population of Hong Kong increased, this area got more and more built up. There was no longer enough space around the temple for all the hawkers who flocked there in the evenings and they were pushed away into the surrounding streets. Eventually it was decided a more formal night market should be established on Temple Street itself with over six hundred separately marked plots. Here hawkers could set up their stalls in the evenings when Temple Street became largely pedestrianized. (If you visit, be aware it's not completely pedestrianized as roads with traffic cross it at several points.)

All the hustle and bustle of the night time activity here also attracted buskers and street performers. Apparently, the well-known Hong Kong Canto-pop star, Anita Mui, used to perform here before she became famous. Nowadays there is still entertainment here. On my visit there were lots of singers, all in close proximity to each other. I guess if you are right next to them, you can only hear them, but if you are wandering around like I was, all you can here is a massive jumble of clashing noise.

Performers.

Singer.

I've read there are often Chinese Opera performances here, too, but there weren't any when I visited.

Temple Street Market didn't really become a tourist attraction until the 1980's when it got a mention in several popular guide books. Some of the stalls here cater to tourists with typical Hong Kong souvenirs. There are also stalls selling clothes, bags, sunglasses, toys, posters and much more. Shoppers are advised to bargain hard and not pay the advertised prices.

Fridge Magnets.

Souvenirs.

Toys.

Posters.

Bags.

Bags and purses.

Shawls.

Clothes.

T-shirts.

Clothes, bags, souvenirs.

Clothing.

Fruit and vegetables. There's not much of this as there's a huge wholesale fruit and vegetable market nearby.

In Hong Kong people sometimes go to the temple to pray for good luck or even to find out what the future has in store for them, so it is quite common to find a lot of fortune tellers around a temple area. In Temple Street Market the fortune tellers occupy a cluster of small booths near the temple grounds. They display some information about the methods they use to predict the future. Some read palms, some do face readings, some use tarot cards, some gaze into a crystal ball and some do astrological readings. One woman kept calling to me to come and have my future foretold, but I didn't take her up on the offer. Maybe I'd rather not know.

Fortune tellers.

Fortune tellers.

The Temple Street Market area is also home to restaurants and bars. Actually these seemed to be busier than the market itself. I didn't go into any of them, but a well known and popular one is Temple Street Spicy Crabs located at the intersection of Temple Street and Nanking Street. Many Nepalis, Indians and Filipinos live around this area and there are several Nepalese, Indian and Filipino restaurants here as a result.

Temple Spicy Crabs.

Temple Spicy Crabs.

Japanese restaurant.

Restaurant.

Restaurants.

Restaurants.

Now and again I came across some examples of street art and I took a few photographs of these.

Pandas.

Street Art.

Street Art.

Street Art.

Temple Street has its seedier side, too. This is a relatively poor area and there were many prostitutes standing around on the perimeters of this market. (No I didn't photograph this.) Apparently from what I have read there are quite a few brothels in this area, too.

Overall, I didn't find Temple Street Market to be as vibrant as some of the night markets we have visited in Taiwan, South Korea or Thailand. I can't quite explain why. Maybe it was just the dreary weather, or the small number of tourists. However, vibrant or not, it's definitely worth a visit. If this area does get revitalized, I'll certainly come back for another look.