A visit to the markets in Yuen Long is a good way to experience the real Hong Kong. Photo / Michael O'Connell-Davidson
Sophie Barclay visits a tourist-free part of Hong Kong.
A 30-minute train transports you from the bustle of Kowloon, Hong Kong, to the former agricultural hub of Yuen Long, west of the New Territories. Skyscrapers are rapidly displacing the small-scale, generations-old farms, so make sure you get there before the tiny villages are swallowed by urban sprawl.
TUNG YICK
MARKET
Alight at Long Ping Station and head to this refreshingly tourist-free market. The entrance is crowded with tiny, sun-wizened grannies selling bunches of tapioca leaves, water spinach and red-veined herbs from their gardens. Do a lap of the ground floor to see fish of every colour and shape, as well as clams, mounds of oysters, live turtles and frogs ready for the pot and freshly butchered fish carcasses - so fresh the hearts are still throbbing. Keep an eye out for the tiny flounder traditionally used to make wonton soup.. Head to the centre of the ground floor to find the stall selling slabs of tofu and fish balls favoured by the locals. Upstairs you can haggle over mounds of mangoes, jackfruit and pimply, cucumber-esque vegetables.
HO TO TAI
When the reek of fish, the noise and the relentless stream of market-goers gets too much, retreat to the Ho To Tai noodle house on Fau Tsoi St. This Michelin-recommended eatery has been in operation since the 1940s and is just a short stroll from the market. HTT, as it is more commonly known, delivers a highly regarded, cheap and flavoursome wonton noodle soup and the noodles and wontons are made onsite. Eat like a royal for less than $5. It's highly likely you'll be the only foreigner in the joint.
FAU TSOI ST
Nip into one of the Chinese stores that line Fau Tsoi St selling an enormous variety of joss paper and papier mache objects burned at Asian funerals to ensure ancestors are materially equipped for their next life. Keep an eye out for the more unusual items: cartons of anti-ageing cream, iPads, paper shirt and ties, McDonald's chicken nuggets, spare dentures and Colgate toothpaste (to ensure the perfect smile in the afterlife).
