- China Trip Planner
HongKong Shopping
- Opening Hours
- Bargaining
- Duty Free
- Warranties & Guarantees
- Refunds & Exchanges
- Rip-Offs
- Shipping Goods
- Where to shop
- Department Stores
- Market
Shopping in Hong Kong is not just about buying stuff: it's a social activity, a form of recreation, and a way of life for many people, both locals and expatriates. Though it isn't the bargain basement it once was, Honkers still wins for variety and for its passionate embrace of competitive consumerism. Any international brand worth its logo has at least one outlet here, and there are a slew of local brands worth your parting with a few 'red ones' as well Clothing, shoes, jewellery, luggage and, to a lesser degree, electronic goods are the city's strong suits most of them can be made to order as well.
There is no sales tax so the marked price is the price you'll pay. Credit cards are widely accepted, except at markets. It's rare for traders to accept travellers cheques or foreign currency as payment. Sales assistants in department or chain stores rarely have any leeway to give discounts, but you can try bargaining in owner-operated stores and certainly at the markets.
The HKTB produces a handy little booklet called A Guide to Quality Merchandise, which lists shops that are HKTB members. For more information, see Rip-Offs.
Opening Hours 
In the Central and Western districts, shop hours are generally 10am to between 6pm and 7:30pm, and in Causeway Bay and Wan Chai they're from l0am to 9:30pm or 10pm. In Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei they are from 10am to 9pm. Many places close for major holidays - sometimes for up to a week especially during Chinese New Year.
Winter sales are during the first three weeks m January and the summer ones in late June and early July.
Bargaining
Bargaining is a way of life in Hong Kong, with the exception of department stores and clothing chain shops, where prices marked are prices paid. Some visitors operate on the theory that you can get the goods for half the price originally quoted. Many Hong Kong residents believe that if you can bargain something down that low, then you shouldn't buy from that particular shop anyway. If the business is that crooked and many are, particularly in the Tsim Sha Tsui tourist ghetto - it will probably find other ways to cheat you (such as selling you electronics goods with missing components or no international warranty).
Price tags should be displayed on all goods. If you can't find a price tag you've undoubtedly entered one of those business establishments with 'flexible' (read rip-off) prices.
Duty Free
The only imported goods on which there is duty in Hong Kong are alcohol, tobacco, perfumes, cosmetics, cars and some petroleum products. In general, almost anything – from cameras and electronics to clothing and jewellery - will be cheaper when you buy it outside duty-free shops.
Warranties & Guarantees
Every guarantee should carry a complete description of the item (including the model and serial numbers), as well as the date of purchase, the name and address of the shop it was purchased from, and the shop's official stamp.
Many imported items come with a warranty registration with the words 'Guarantee only valid in Hong Kong'. If it's a well-known brand, you can often return this card to the importer in Hong Kong to get a warranty card for your home country.
A common practice is to sell grey-market equipment (ie imported by somebody other than the official local agent). Such equipment may have no guarantee at all or the guarantee might only be valid in the country of manufacture (which will probably be either China or Japan).
Refunds & Exchanges
Most shops are loath to give refunds, but they can usually be persuaded to exchange purchases that haven't been soiled or tampered with. Make sure you get a detailed receipt that enumerates the goods as well as the amount and payment method.
There is really no reason to put a deposit on anything unless it is an article of clothing being made for you or you've ordered a new pair of glasses. Some shops might ask for a deposit, if you're ordering an unusual item that's not normally stocked, but this isn't a common practice.
Rip-Offs
How you shop is important in Hong Kong. The territory is not a nest of thieves just waiting to rip you off, as some guidebooks seem to suggest. There are, however, a lot of pitfalls just waiting for the uninitiated to tall into, and the longer you shop in Hong Kong, the more likely it is that you'll run into a shopkeeper who is crooked.
Whatever you're in the market for, always check prices in a few shops, take your time and return to a shop several times if necessary. Don't buy anything expensive in a hurry and always get a manufacturer's guarantee or warranty that is valid worldwide. When com'- paring camera prices, for example, make sure you're comparing not only the same camera body but also the comparable lenses and any other accessories included.
The most common way for shopkeepers in Hong Kong to cheat tourists is to simply overcharge. In the tourist shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui, you'll rarely find price tags on anything. Checking prices in several shops therefore becomes essential. But Hong Kong merchants weren't born yesterday; they know tourists comparison-shop. So staff will often quote a reasonable or even low price on a big-ticket item, only to get the money back by overcharging on small items or accessories.
Spotting overcharging is the easy part. Sneakier tricks involve merchants removing vital components that should have been included free (like the connecting cords for the speakers on a stereo system) and demanding more money when you return to the shop to get them. You should be especially wary if the staffs want to take the goods into the back room to 'box it up'. Another tactic is to replace some of the good components with cheap or defective ones. Only later will you discover that your 'Nikon' lens turns out to be a cheap copy.
Watch out for counterfeit-brand goods. Fake labels on clothes are the most obvious example, but there are fake Rolex watches, fake Gucci leather bags, even fake electronic goods. Pirated CDs and DVDs are a positive steal (in more ways than one) for as little as HK$30, but are of poor quality and rapidly deteriorate.
Hong Kong's customs agents have cracked down on the fake electronics and cameras, and the problem has been pretty much solved. However, counterfeit brand-name watches remain very common and are constantly being flogged by the irritating touts patrolling Nathan Rd. If you discover that you've been sold a fake brand-name watch by a shopkeeper, when you thought you were buying the genuine article, call the police. This is definitely illegal.
If you have any trouble with a dodgy merchant, call the Quality Tourism Services (QTS) scheme of the HKTB (Tel 2806 2823; qtshk.com) if he or she is a member of that association (the HKTB logo will be displayed on the front door or in some other prominent place). Otherwise, contact the Hong Kong Consumer Council (Tel 2929 2222; consumer.org.hk; Ground floor, Harbour Bldg, 38 Pier Road, Central).
If you are determined to take legal action against a shopkeeper, the Small Claims Tribunal (Tel 2582 4084, 2582 4085; 4th floor, Wan Chai Tower, 12 Harbour Road, Wan Chai; . 9am-1pm, 2-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-noon Sat) handles civil cases involving up to a maximum of HK$50,000. The Community Advice Bureau (Tel 2815 5444) can help you find a lawyer.
Shipping Goods
Goods can be sent home by post, and some shops will package and post the goods for you, especially if it's a large item. It's a good idea to find out whether you will have to clear the goods at the country of destination. If the goods are fragile, it is sensible to buy 'all risks' insurance. Make sure you keep all the receipts.
Smaller items can be shipped from the post office. United Parcel Service (UPS; Tel 2735 3535) also offers services from Hong Kong to some 40 countries. It ships by air and accepts parcels weighing up to 30kg. DHL (Tel 2765 8111) is another option.
Where to shop
The main shopping districts are Central and Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island and Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon.
Central has a mix of mid-range to top-end shopping centres and street-front retail; it's popular with locals and tourists alike. This is a good place to look for cameras, books, antiques and designer threads. The Landmark shopping mall in central, due to be redeveloped soon, has designer boutiques, shops selling crystal and so on.
Causeway Bay has perhaps the largest weekend crowds and the broadest spectrum in terms of price. It is a crush of department stores and smaller outlets selling designer and street fashion, electronics, sporting goods and household items. In this area you'll also stumble upon lively street markets. Jardine's Bazaar (actually a street) and the area behind it are home to stalls and shops peddling cheap clothing, luggage and footwear, as well as the huge Times Square shopping mall. The World Trade Centre is another place where you'll find everything under one roof.
Wan Chai is another good spot for medium- and low-priced clothing, sporting goods and footwear, but the area caters mainly for locals. The district has little glamour, but it is well worth sifting through for bargains. Admiralty, bordering Wan Chai to the west, has Hong Kong Island's glitziest shopping mall: Pacific Place, just opposite (and connected by elevated Walkway to) the Admiralty, MTR station.
For antiques and curios, head for Hollywood Road in Sheung Wan, where there is a long string of shops selling Chinese and Asian items. Some of the really good spots have genuine find, but beware of what you buy.
Tsim Sha Tsui is a curious mixture of the down-at-heel and the glamorous. Nathan Rd is the main tourist strip, a huge avenue with side streets full of camera, watch and electronics shops and leather and silk emporia. Although this is the part of town where you're most likely to get ripped off Tsim Sha Tsui is also home to a large number of above-board designer and signature shops. Some of these are found in Nathan Rd, but the bulk are in Harbour City, a labyrinthine shopping complex with a mall that stretches nearly l km from the Star Ferry terminal north along Canton Rd. Tsim Sha Tsui East has a string of mostly upmarket shopping malls, the biggest being the Tsim Sha Tsui Centre on Mody Rd. Many hotels in Tsim Sha Tsui have very upmarket boutique shopping arcades, most notably the Peninsula and the Inter-Continental.
North of Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok north caters mostly to local shoppers, and it offers good prices on clothing, sporting goods, camping gear, footwear and daily necessities. There's nothing very exotic, but for everyday items it's a popular spot, and its fun to see how local people shop and what they are buying.
Department Stores
Hong Kong’s department stores stock an enormous rang of goods, with everything from clothing and household item to souvenirs and groceries. In general, they are stylish and fashion but NOT cheap! So if you’re looking for bargains look elsewhere. You’ll find department stores primarily in Central, Admiralty and Causeway on Hong Kong Island and in Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon. The territory’s few remaining Japanese – many now just in name only – department stores are concentrated around Causeway Bay.
Chinese emporiums, generally owned and run by mainland interests, are a different kettle of fish, concentrating on Chinese arts and crafts, ceramics, furniture, souvenirs, cheap clothing and daily necessities.
Market
The Tung Choi St market, two blocks east of the Mong Kok MTR station, mainly sells cheap clothing. It is sometimes called 'Ladies Market' (or 'Women's St') to distinguish it from 'Men's St' (the market on Temple St) because the stalls in the latter once sold only menswear. Though there are still a lot of items on sale for women on Tung Choi St, vendors don't discriminate and anyone's money will do. Stall owners start setting out their goods as early as lunchtime, but it's better to arrive between 6pm and 10pm, when there's a lot more on offer.
Jade Market
Kansu, Canton & Battery Sts; 9am-6pm
The Jade Market, near the Gascoigne Rd overpass just west of Nathan Rd and split into two parts by the loop formed by Battery St, has some 450 stalls selling all varieties and grades of jade from inside two covered markets. Unless you really know your nephrite from your jadeite and intimately - it's probably not wise to buy any expensive pieces here.
You can reach the market easily on foot from either the Jordan or Yau Ma Tel MTR stations. Bus No 9 from the Star Ferry bus station will drop you off at the Kowloon Central Post Office (405 Nathan Rd), which is just around the corner from the market.
Temple Street Night Market
4pm to dawn
Temple Street, which extends from Man Ming Lane in the north to Nanking Street in the south and is cut in two by the Tin Hau temple complex, is the liveliest night market in Hong Kong, and is the place to go for cheap clothes, dai pai dong (open-air street stall) food, watches, pirate CDs, fake labels, footwear, cookware and everyday items. Any marked prices should be considered mere suggestions - this is definitely a place to bargain.
You'll also find a surfeit of fortune tellers and herbalists and, occasionally, some free, open-air Cantonese opera performances.
For street food, head for Woo Sung St, running parallel to the east, or to the section of Temple St north of the temple. You can get anything from a simple bowl of noodles to a full meal. There are also a few seafood and hotpot restaurants in the area.
The market officially opens in the afternoon, but most hawkers set up at about 6pm and leave by midnight. The market is at its best from about 7pm to 10pm, when it's clogged with stalls and people. If you want to carry on, visit the colourful wholesale fruit market (corner Shek Lung and Reclamation Streets; midnight-dawn).
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