Goldfish and steamed dumplings

       Hong Kong is sometimes compared to an enormous department store; go shopping there and you're bound to find what you're looking for eventually. A highlight of any visit to the city is a trip to one of its numerous markets. Many of these specialise in items such as fish, flowers, jewellery or song birds.
       Qiang Wu is still not sure what he should do. He has spent the entire morning at the bird market on Yuen Po Street. He wants to buy a bird for his small apartment but he cannot decide which one he prefers. There are over 70 traders at this market in Mong Kok district and all of them are selling colourful song birds native to many different regions of the world.
       Qiang already has a favourite but first he wants to have a chat with the men standing with bird cages at the edge of the market.Just as some people meet up for a coffee when they take their dogs for a walk, elderly Hong Kong men like to take their song birds for a stroll to the bird market in the morning.
       Just a few streets away is an equally interesting spectacle: the goldfish market. Goldfish are very suited to the crowded conditions in which most of Hong Kong's seven million people live. Tung Choi Street is crowded with tiny shops selling colourful fish from aquariums or pre-packed in water-filled plastic bags pinned to their walls.Everything from goldfish to fish tanks and fish food is on sale here.
       A few streets away is the flower market on Flower Market Road,one of the most colourful locales in the whole city, according to Denny Ip, who works as a movie-location scout."It's always very crowded here ahead of the Chinese New Year festivities with people buying plants to bring luck and wealth for the next 12 months."
       There are plenty more markets in Mong Kok apart from these three. The clothing markets in Fa Yuen are nearby and include the Ladies' Market where women can find shoes and accessories at bargain prices.
       And if you're thinking of buying some jewellery check out the Jade Market. This delicately hued precious stone, which is found in Burma, China, Australia and Taiwan, is believed by the Chinese to possess mysterious powers.
       As night falls, things start getting really busy along Temple Street.The Night Market in Yau-Ma-Tei district on Kowloon has most everything you'd need. There are fortune tellers sitting beside chess players, street musicians singing Cantonese operas and everywhere people can be seen eating steamed meals. To complement the Ladies' Market, Temple Street has men's clothing on offer.
       Also well known is the Stanley Market on the south coast which appears far removed from Hong Kong's skyscrapers and jammed streets. The many hairpin bends in the road provide views of the South China Sea and of pretty residential areas.
       In contrast to most of the other markets the traders here are less likely to offer a great deal."Too many tourists come here and pay the prices indicated on the labels," says Denny. Which explains why it's practically impossible to haggle with the vendors here.