Stanley Market

Stanley Market, located in the southeast part of Hong Kong Island, is a dry market frequented by tourists. There are the usual oriental-looking gifts you can find and more (like ski suits). You can even get a Chinese stone seal made with your Chinese name engraved on it. You don't have a Chinese name? No problem. They will give you one on the spot - much faster than it took your parents, I'd bet. Left: shops at Stanley Market

List of products spotted there include:

suitcases paintings silk clothing clothing, clothing, & clothing T-shirts oriental products

For shopping in the market, you should go during the day because most stores in the market seem to be closed in the evening. And whether you want to or not, they know you're a tourist and will set the prices accordingly. So feel free to bargain with them. They always have a calculator ready to negotiate with you on your purchase. And there's no sales tax in HK, yet.

But then in addition to the market, there is a strip by the water with a row of bars and restaurants. Many of them have outdoors dining in the weekends when the street is closed off to motorized vehicles. Left: street in Stanley with sidewalk cafes and restaurant

Being away from the busy urban Hong Kong, coupled with a view of the Stanley Bay with its yachts and boats, restaurants in Stanley give you a leisurely feel. A great place to meet up with friends. But then one drawback is the higher prices.

And then down the road is a small shopping center plus a historical building that was moved there stone by stone (shown to the left). The rustic building, Murray House, is now home to a few fine restaurants. One seems to have live music every night - a trio singing from table to table!

The adjacent Stanley Beach is the location of dragon boat races during the Dragon Boat Festival. Drawing participants from both the local fishermen and the corporate expatriats, it has become quite a party.

Stanley is accessible by bus. You can catch one in Central from the bus terminal at Exchange Square. In fact there're a few different routes all going to Stanley (some operating in selected hours). Some pass by Admiralty on their way, so you can catch one there as well.

There's also a bus from North Point (number 63 or 65) that can take you there, passing by Causeway Bay on its way. But note that it only runs till 7 or 7:30 pm. Depending on which bus you take, it may take a good hour to get there from the Central / Admiralty area.

Follow the link to New World First Bus website in our links section for details.

If you do take a bus, get on the upper deck and sit on the right side to get a better view - seaview. On your way there, when you pass by Repulse Bay, you will see a big condominium complex with a big hole in the middle! It's the site of the old Repulse Bay Hotel, which is no longer in operation.

There're also minibuses that you can take to get to Stanley, but they're a little more complicated for a tourist to figure out. If you're adventurous, have at it!