During the 6-day free travel in Hong Kong, I had a new understanding of Hong Kong. Although I really like the cultural atmosphere of Hong Kong, Hong Kong is indeed active in preserving traditional Chinese customs, such as the lion dance in Temple Street, hanging cabbage for good luck, fortune-telling, and the inheritance of Cantonese opera among ordinary people, etc. But in Hong Kong, I still encountered some surprising things. The deepest memory is at a jade hawker market in Yau Ma Tei: I was recognized as a Japanese tourist.
I came across the jade hawker market in Yau Ma Tei by accident. This is a very famous jade street in Hong Kong. It is divided into District A and District B, and may also have District C and District D. It is said that this place was very prosperous in the past. Not only locals like to come here to shop for treasures, but even foreign tourists come here. In their eyes, the jade culture here is like Chinese porcelain. Although Hong Kong is not rich in jade, this jade street is very famous.
The day I ran into the market, I was sweeping the streets with my camera. At that time, I was accompanied by a friend who worked in Hong Kong. Our arrival caught the attention of a hawker. She walked over with a smile on her face. My friend and I hadn’t spoken yet, and asked in fluent English which one we like.
I was taken aback, why did she speak English to us? Perhaps there used to be many foreign tourists here, and these stall owners may be used to communicating in English when facing tourists. But the friend communicated with her in Cantonese at that time. Surprisingly, the smile on the stall owner's face disappeared and he turned around instead. My friend and I looked at each other, shrugged each other, and continued to visit the market.
For such a small market, I am very excited. In my eyes, all local flea markets, second-hand markets, jade markets, etc., even vegetable markets, are no different from museums. Every market reflects a city's culture, life temperament and so on. Facing the shining crystals and jades in front of me, even if we don't have the desire to do anything, it's still interesting to walk in such an environment.
The jade hawker market is said to have been formed in the 1950s. It was concentrated on Canton Road at first, and later moved to Gansu Street in Yau Ma Tei. However, the prosperity seems to be gone forever, and now it is very depressed. Since Hong Kong people are used to opening their doors for business around 11 or 12 noon, even though the jade market opens at 9 am, in most cases it is deserted before 11 or 12.
I have been there between 2, 3, and 4 or 5 in the afternoon. I thought there would be more tourists during this period, but there are no people in Area A or Area B. Looking around, the few figures are mostly hawkers in the market. After in-depth understanding, I realized that this jade street has long been unpopular with tourists. Although locals still visit, the situation today is bleak compared with the past.
Some hawkers think that this is the relationship between the location relocation. In order to beautify the city and make it easier for tourists to wander around, the government gathered them and moved them to the Yau Ma Tei Jade Hawker Market where it is today.
The market mainly sells jadeite, as well as rough stones. There are three to four hundred stalls, large and small. Jade rings, jade pendants, jade bracelets, small toys, etc. can all be found here. The price ranges from 10 Hong Kong dollars to tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars, and there are even hundreds of thousands or hundreds of thousands. Of course, most of the jade articles are B goods and C goods, but even the B goods were in short supply in the early years. But as the years passed, the market became less and less crowded, and most foreign tourists stopped coming.
But some stall owners still guard their small shops, even if they are old, it seems that the market has lost its vitality. Under the lights, all kinds of emerald gemstones illuminate the desolate market with prosperity, and this false prosperity is even more cold.
But there is a very interesting phenomenon: even in the 21st century, there are still booths here that write letters for others. Including Chinese calligraphy, writing Chinese and English letters, filling out application forms and tax returns, etc., are all rare and ancient industries. Although I don't know much about jade, the jade market still surprises me.
Although the market is very depressed, almost all the goods are of poor quality, and the appearance is not good, but if you are serious about Taobao, you may be able to find something. And when my friend and I were walking around in the market, we were once again noticed by the hawker. This time my friend didn’t speak Cantonese, and the hawker didn’t turn around and walk away, but for some reason they recognized us as Japanese.
At that time, before we spoke, an old man came over with a string of tiger eye stone bracelets. The first sentence was just one word: "Japanese?" "Chinese!" We answered. It seems that no matter in the past or today, the tourists who come to the jade market are mainly foreigners. Even though the number of foreign tourists is decreasing, they still habitually communicate with people in English first. It's just that no one knows whether this traditional flea market can still become prosperous under the persistence of these old people.
In order to restore the business of the jade market, the government has tried to turn it into a tourist attraction, and some travel agencies have brought groups here to shop. It's just that once the prosperity is over, it will be difficult to splash.
