Since I had the day off, I decided to hit up the Jade Market. Even better, that market happens to be in Yau Ma Tei, which is one of my favorite places in Hong Kong--no matter what time of day. I got to the Yau Ma Tei MTR station around 11:00am and walked down Nathan Road, following the signs towards the Jade Market (HK is the most navigation-friendly place I've ever seen). Of course, the market itself was also well-marked:
Even though it supposedly opens at 10:00am, that's just a rough estimation. If you're ever a tourist in Hong Kong and looking to hit up the markets around opening time, refer to the "opening hours" in your guidebook. Assume that the real opening time is about 1 hour later, and the closing time is 30 minutes earlier. The white-collar office guys may work until 9:00pm every day, but the blue collar culture is very laid-back. So, to make a long story short, I got there around the real opening time.
Most of the goods for sale were jewelry, but tourists could pick up all sorts of odds and ends for exorbitant prices. Thank goodness bargaining is allowed!
If it weren't, I wouldn't have made any purchases. This is one problem with looking Western in Hong Kong. Although old people, little kids, and Mainlander tourists always ask to take pictures with you, shop-owners see you practically as prey. Americans, especially, have a reputation for falling easily for way over-inflated prices. One way to avoid the issue is to bargain in Mandarin. However, many older shop-owners don't speak or understand it. Mandarin has only been taught in schools for a certain number of years, and most people (including the local students at CUHK) don't speak or understand it as well as I do--which is saying a lot. Therefore, sometimes bargaining in English is unavoidable. As I flitted between different stalls, I used a combination of both.
There are some tips for bargaining in English. (1) Wait to hear the price, and yes, it will be ridiculously high if you look/sound Western. Be blunt. Tell the shop-owner that you've lived in Hong Kong for close to a year and you know that price is way off. Ask for a re-quote. (2) Even if you don't know what you're doing, examine the item super-carefully--even obsessively--for a long time. This will make you look stingy and encourage the shop-owner to lower the price just to get you to move on. (3) Ask tons of questions--in English--just as fast as they can answer them. Perhaps this is a little mean, but the shop-owners don't always speak English that well. They sometimes get overwhelmed and lower the price more just to get you to go away. (4) If the shop-owner says HK$200, you say HK$50. Cutting the price down to a quarter is usually a good place to start bargaining. Don't settle for anything higher than 50% of the original price. More than 30-35% is fairly generous. (5) If the shop-owner doesn't agree to your price, walk away, even if you intend to buy the item anyway. 9 times out of 10, they run after you shouting "OK! OK!" So, yes, bargaining in Hong Kong is not just for Chinese-speakers. I always love seeing a Western tourist bargain hard and bargain well.
You all probably know this by now, but I really love to haggle. It's one of the things I'm going to miss most when I go back to the USA! Sounds crazy, I know. Well, it's a good thing, because I was able to pick up some lovely gifts for people back home as well as myself. I realize it's a bit of a spoiler, but I've posted photos of the 4 necklaces I bought.
The first one is for Sarah as a birthday present. Green jade flower necklace. The pendant is about the size of a half-dollar.
And for Sarah's graduation present (congratulations, sister!), I got a dark green jade dragon pendant. The beads are plastic, though. It's perhaps a little gaudy, but I like it, and I bet she will too.
For mom, I purchased a smaller, more elegant piece. For reference, the pendant here is about the size of a nickel.
As for myself, I also like the flower-shapes. Naturally, I was drawn towards the orange one, which is a little smaller than Sarah's green flower. Plus, I can adjust the length of mine from very short to very long.
For those of you who question the quality of the jade, you do so with good reason. Fake goods are abundant in Hong Kong, and actually are something the city is quite famous for. Many tourists even come hoping to buy fake goods just for fun. Of course, buying fake goods at real goods price isn't fun at all. Understand, I didn't spend much on any of the pieces I bought, but I made sure I knew how to differentiate real jade from fake before I went.
Here's the how-to: (1) Hold the piece of jade up to a bright light. If you can see little fibers or cloudiness, it's a good sign. Transparent or homogeneous pieces are definitely fake. (2) Still holding it up to a light, check the piece for signs of layering. It's not uncommon for manufacturers to glue together small layers of poor quality jade to make a single piece that looks like good quality. Also be careful to look for lines because sometimes manufacturers will cover plastic with thin pieces of real jade. (3) Toss the piece gently into the air and catch it in your hand. Real jade is very dense. By "real jade," I actually mean both jadeite and nephrite, which are the only 2 types of jade that qualify for certificates of authenticity. Jadeite has a slightly higher density than nephrite. Both of them will feel much heavier than plastic, and weigh about the same as a piece of quartz the same size. (4) Tap the piece gently with a piece of real jade. If it sounds like 2 rocks hitting together, it's probably real. Don't buy it if it sounds like plastic. If you don't have your own, you can borrow pieces of real jade from mineral experts who have their stalls set up just outside. They'll watch you like hawks, though, and who can blame them? Aside from that, there's just common sense stuff. For instance, know what colors naturally occur in jade (green, yellow, white, red/orange, purple). If you see something pink or neon yellow, it's definitely not jade. You could also perform a scratch test, but the risk of damaging the piece is high so I would highly discourage it--especially if you don't own the piece.
All in all, I had a nice day-off, and I felt good about all my purchases. I just hope the 2 lovely ladies back home enjoy their goodies as much as I enjoyed picking them out.
Interestingly, come Thursday, I found myself once again drawn back to Yau Ma Tei. It's nearing the end of the semester, and soon the other exchange students will go back to their home countries. I may be staying for the summer, but many of my friends leave in mid to late May. That includes Magda who, as I recently discovered, has never experienced the joy of eating at Mr. Wong's Restaurant. As a good friend, I felt compelled to share the joy with her, in all of its cheap, noisy, crowded glory.
I've mentioned this little known Hong Kong "landmark" before, but let me reiterate. Mr. Wong's is this teeny tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Yau Ma Tei. It's one of those places you could never find by yourself unless you already know where it is. Even so, there seems to be a Mr. Wong's cult in Hong Kong amongst both locals and foreign exchange students. Perhaps it's because Mr. Wong himself is so personable, and he adores foreigners. Therefore, it's only natural that we exchange students frequent his establishment religiously. Many of us are even friends with him on facebook, myself included. The real lure of his restaurant, though, is that--for a hungry person--it's the absolute best deal you can find in Hong Kong. You pay just HK$40 (US$5.14) for nonstop rounds of delicious and authentic Chinese food as well as being treated to Mr. Wong's wacky sense of humor. It's no wonder his restaurant has tables pouring out into the street every single night. For a restaurant about the same size as my dorm room, I've never seen fewer than 50 people there at a time. He keeps a storage room in the back full of tables and chairs and just sets them up on the sidewalk and even the street as necessary. Magda may be a little skinny person, but she is undoubtedly a bottomless pit. I had to take her to Mr. Wong's at least once! The both of us, I guiltily admit, spent 2 hours polishing off dumplings, spring rolls, fried rice, broccoli and peanuts, and sweet and sour fish. I think Magda fell in love so I have a hunch we'll be back soon.
We were so full, though, so we decided to walk at least a little of it off. Since we were already in Yau Ma Tei, we knew that the Temple Street Night Market was just about 3 blocks down. On the way there, we encountered this amusing advertisement. In times like these, I fall in love with China all over again.
It took us only 15 minutes to get to Temple Street, and things were already bustling. After all, Temple Street has the largest and busiest market in all of Hong Kong.
Since Mong Kok has Ladies' Market, Temple Street has become widely known as "Men's Market." While Ladies' Market carries almost exclusively clothing and jewelry items for women, Temple Street has a little of everything--including some items that pertain to more "male" interests, such as electronics and men's apparel. You can still find something for everyone, though. Here's Magda still feeling over-stuffed from dinner:
View of the night market on a Thursday. Imagine the weekends!
A very typical display of jade, latched-boxes, fans, and good-luck charms.
Of course, there were those selling something more unusual. I don't know if you could actually call this "fine work."
This is the official "entrance," but since it's erection, the night market has spilled down several more blocks. The entrance is now near the middle of the market!
You've got to love the frankness here. Even so, I imagine this poor shop-owner gets a lot of this kind of trouble.
I didn't buy anything at Temple Street this time. I wanted to get a T-shirt for Dad, but the largest T-shirt size was just one size too small. It's really too bad, though, because I found an awesome Bruce Lee shirt. I'm still trying to find a good souvenir for Dad! Ideas are welcome, indeed. Magda, however, bought a Mahjongg set. I know she's been in the market for one for a long time now so I'm sure she's quite happy.
Until next time, 再见!
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