The experience of Kowloon City One Day Trip

Looking at the high rise buildings and the shabby old housings in the same street, you may have feelings that this scene is quite awkward. However, this is why it is so unique in our eyes. Seeing theKowloon Walled City Park and the newly- built private housing right next to it, you can easily feel the fusion of tradition and modern.This is  the oblivious spot – The Kowloon City. Seldom would tourists visit this place, but this special district has many character spots  waiting for us to explore.

Kowloon City district is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is a low density residential area. Most of the land is residential land use. Before this assignment, our impression to this district was simply an old inner district, and the Kai Tak airport was established there. It was not really a special worth visiting place in Hong Kong. Unlike the common tourist spots, it does not have any exciting amusements park or beautiful sceneries. It would be a very challenging task for us to plan a one day trip for tourists.

However, when we search over the Internet, we found that Kowloon city is not as dull as we thought. Contradictory, it was full of excitment indeed. The Kowloon City is a place with historical sites, such as Kowloon Walled City Park and Sung Wong Toi Park; large shopping malls, such as Kowloon City Plaza and Festival Walk and an array of cuisines from countries all around the globe, especially the East-Asian Food e.g. Thai Food, Islam food and  Canton food etc.  The multi-ethnic dinning culture with special cuisine like Islam Food polishes Hong Kong’s Food Paradise reputation. All these are special enough for us to promote this place.

The most impressed stop we've visited in Kowloon City is the Kowloon Walled City Park. What makes it so special is that it fully articulates the old Hong Kong style of living.The Kowloon Walled City Park brings people back to the days in the twentieth century, showing the time where the place was densely populated with chaotic and ungoverned settlements. We've never thought of this style of living before as we all live in modern Hong Kong nowadays. This really open our eyes as we are able to know more about the history of Hong Kong.

This project is the first step for us to know more about this district and also making efforts in promoting this place to forighn visitors. Maybe Kowloon City is yet to be competitive enough to become  the mainstream tourist haunt, but we believe that sooner or later, the place would be one of the most popular spots in Hong Kong as it has its own special culture and historical value.We want to share these to everyone who are interested. On top of that, we would like to promote this district to foreigners in order to let more people know about this place.

As for the challenges we faced, first of all, in this project we have to plan a one day trip. Planning a trip is much more difficult than we thought. This is because not only do we have to select places to visit among all the attractions, we also have to control the time we are spending in each destination. Furthermore, we have to do a lot of searching of information about the tourist spots before we actually go on a pre-trip. During the trip, we have to concern about the transportation, the dinning places and  the cost etc. These are all very complex processes. But it is indeed a fruitful and rewardable experience for us to learn about how tourism industry works in reality. Moreover, we enjoyed the whole pre- trip as we can try the cuisines and have some fun taking pictures and videos there.

From what we can see now, we can tell that in the future, Kowloon City will continue on its transformation. The old Kai Tak airport will be transformed into a new integrated development are. It is going to include Cruise Terminal, residential and commercial areas. Seeing potential in this oblivious place right now, we believe that the Kowloon City would soon be developed into a much more attractive spot in the near future.

The experience of the Sheung Wan Tour

Experiencing the Old Hong Kong

     Smelling the air inside old dried seafood retail shops which are much older than us, we felt like we were back to the 1980s. Listening to one eighty-year-old shop owner telling us the past operation mode of Sheung Wan made us think about how much memory was left among Hong Kong people?


                 Sheung Wan, a place right next to the financial centre of Hong Kong-  Central and the shopping paradise -Causeway Bay ,though with high accessibility, seldom are there people visiting this district. In fact, a hundred years ago, Sheung Wan was as busy as today’s Central and it contributed a lot to Hong Kong’s prosperous economic development. Since Hong Kong is trying hard to develop itself into an international financial city, the development in other aspects, such as trading in Sheung Wan started to decline. And it is no longer as prosperous as before. Visiting Sheung Wan allows us to explore those valuable stories of the old Hong Kong.

            Getting out from the Sheung Wan MTR station, the view  outside was not much different from other places. Walking towards the starting point of our tour, we could see a lot of dried seafood shops putting their goods along the streets. We visited different shops and briefly understood the characteristics of different dried seafood and Chinese medicine. The most unforgettable experience was that a few old shop owners shared with us their feeling about Sheung Wan and their profession on dried seafood. In the past, without the help of machines and computers, all the work was done by men. They also emphasized on building mutual trust between sellers and buyers. The past stories of Nam Pak Hong (南北巷) were the very important history of Hong Kong.

          This project allows us to visit Sheung Wan which is a strange place to all of us. Before visiting this place, we have searched different information about it,such as its history, attractions or its future development. We have invited a few of our friends to go with us, also we act as tour guides to introduce them different culinary shops. Being a tour guide was not an easy task as we had to speak fluently ,consider tourists’ responses and the most important point is that we must have in-depth understanding of that place. It was an interesting and precious experience to us! 
         
          The trip to Sheung Wan did not just give us chances to be a tour guide, but also aroused our awareness and inspired us to make reflection. Culinary shops in Sheung Wan, for example, were something not-so-special to most teenagers nowadays. Who are willing to spend a whole day visiting shops that have existed since they were born? Looking at the interior design and shopkeepers of those shops, we instantly felt sorry for them as most citizens take them for granted. Everything in those shops tells a story. Unfortunately, few people really care for them. Could you believe that there is a person using Chinese brush to record transactions on an accounting book? There is such a shopowner in a culinary shop in Sheung Wan doing so. Nevertheless, who know this? Even residents living there do not know this. That’s because insufficient attention was paid to the old shops. Every day they just walk by the shops without a glimpse of the shops. To most of them, they are as ordinary as other shops.

          The Tourism Broad has got their job done in terms of promoting Hong Kong’s famous tourist attractions like the Ocean Park and the Peak. They, however, overlook another aspect of Hong Kong—the cultural, educational and thought-provoking one. Though they are no longer as important as other tourist attractions to Hong Kong’s economy, they are indispensable to Hong Kong, recording Hong Kong’s greatest change. They are like the supporting actors essential in a drama but they are never in the spotlight. It is not because they do not have any charisma, but because no one knows their existence. The sparkle of a diamond is not naturally formed; it shines just after experts’ segment and polish. The same theory can be applied to Sheung Wan. Sheung Wan is actually a lovely place but the government has made no effort to showcase the inner beauty of Sheung Wan to the world, or even to the local. Then, how can we expect the youth ask their overseas friends to come to those shops?
  

    Therefore, we hope the government can play a role to make Sheung Wan shine. The least expectation we can have of our government is that it pools its resources to stir a culture and promote some one-day trips visiting these precious places of historical values to the younger generation so as to pass the flame of remembrance of the old Hong Kong.      
          
         With rapid economic development in Hong Kong after World War Two, Sheung Wan’s role in Hong Kong econmony was not as important as in the past. At the same time, people began to forget this important origin. Sheung Wan is now facing many inner city problems that should be resolved as soon as possible, for example the decaying community and ageing population. Together with the construction of the West Island Line, the shop owners can no longer afford the rising land rent. Many Hong Kong people just focus on their work without paying attention to things around them. There are many places in Hong Kong, like Sheung Wan and Kowloon City, are worthwhile to visit. Just like our theme “outside the spotlight”, we hope that more Hong Kong people can go and visit these less famous areas. It is understandable that tourists would like to go to those tourist attractions, but being a Hong Kong people, at least we should know more about our community and our local history. Go outside the spotlight, you may find more treasure and surprise.

The oblivious spot- Kowloon City District

                         
The place where you can experience local unique culture—Kowloon City

Hi guys! Welcome to Hong Kong! In the first few days of your trip, you might probably been to Central, the Buddha, the Ocean Park etc. But how about getting a chance to experience the local living styles?

Here, we present you a place which you would rarely find it a special place to go to, Kowloon City!   

Through visiting Kowloon City, we want to..
First of all, it is to introduce to you all the LOCAL eating and shopping culture of Hong Kong.
Secondly, we would like you to understand local urban development and history.
Last but not least, exploring the “NOT SO FAMOUS” tourist spots in Hong Kong.

As this is a trip concerning typical Chinese ways of living, we would like to invite you, foreigners from western countries, especially those from non-Asian countries to join us and explore the place. As for the schedule below, you will be able to see that this is a One Day trip last for one entire day. Most importantly, for the theme: A fusion of the traditional and modern, we would like to show our guests a part of Hong Kong’s history and how it varies from what we can see right now.

Our planned schedule

Are you ready? Let’s start the journey!

Basic knowledge of Kowloon City

Kowloon City District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. The district has the third most educated residents while its residents enjoy the highest income in Kowloon. The former airport, Kai Tak Airport was also located in the district.

Where are we going to meet?

8:30am:  Kowloon Tong MTR station Exit B2

Kowloon Tong MTR station

Taxi(around $30) or minibus 25M($4.7)

We are able to reach our destination within 15 minutes.

                                                                                                        ,

1^st Stop 8:45- 9:30am : Breakfast at Ho Choi Seafood Restaurant

Have you ever tried “Yum Cha” ( Tea drinking) before?

This is indeed a traditional Chinese dinning culture. It reflects the long eating history of China. In the Chinese restaurant, we are able to try delicious Chinese food from different parts of China e.g. dim sum(shrimp dumplings/ Siu Mai) and rice puddings. This is also one of the unique dining cultures of Chinese people. You can find people sitting around a table, chatting leisurely and reading newspapers.

2^nd Stop 9:45- 11:30 am : Kowloon Walled City Park

Why are we choosing this place as a spot?

 This is because it shows a typical old Hong Kong style of living!

• Its design resembles the garden style of the Qing Dynasty
• It has great historical value because it reserved YaMen and other monuments remained in the Walled City
• You may see the combination of new and old, since the contrast between the park and a newly-built private estate right next to it, we are able to see the transformation of Kowloon City

Layout of the park

As shown on the map of the park, you can see that this is a gigantic park. If you think it is too tired for you to walk through the whole park, here are two check points with unique attractiveness that we recommend to you.

Check point 1 :

The Yamen (衙門)

Located in the centre of the Park, the Yamen is a declared monument and serves as the Park's office. The Yamen is the only building that remains of the Walled City. It was designed in the architectural style of southern China

Inside the YaMen, there are exhibitions--A City of Thousands face, illustrating the lives of people in Kowloon Walled City by vocal drama shows and interactive electronic games. They are very interesting!

	Check point 2: Pavilion and the Ancient garden There is a pavilion surrounded by a lake. Once we go into that area, it immediately incurs a feeling that we are in an ancient garden. You can stop by the lake and take pictures, or chat with your friends or family beside this beautiful scenery. Other Check points for your references: 1. The Mountain View Pavilion Two-storey Mountain View Pavilion resembles a docked boat, with its upswept roof corners suggesting the boat's prow. You can take a rest here and enjoy the soft breezes and the smell of nature. The Mountain View Pavilion 2. The Garden of Chinese Zodiac There are white-stone-sculptured  animals in this garden arranged according to the tian gan (heavenly stems) and di zhi (earthly branches)[天幹地枝] of Chinese geomancy. The zodiac sculptures are crafted in Han and Qing Dynasty styles. This is full of Chinese style. The Garden of Chinese Zodiac

FORMER OF THE KOWLOON WALLED CITY PARK: The Kowloon Walled City

The Kowloon Walled City’s first appearance can be traced back to Song Dynasty. The City Walls are built to prevent the invasion of pirates. It was only cleared by the British in 1993.

Back in the times when Kowloon Walled City is flourishing, it is densely populated with chaotic and ungoverned settlement. Controlled by triads, the city had a high crime rate. Problems like drug abusing and theft were serious. It was difficult for the citizens to access to clean water since there are too many temporary buildings and apartments. Water rationing would be launched sometimes. Moreover, the price of basic daily necessities was generally cheap.

3^rd Stop: 12nn- 1300 Lunch- Best of Thai Food Restaurant(泰之選)

After the history tour in Kowloon City, I guess most of you would like some refreshments before we move on. In Kowloon City, the most popular cuisine that you must not miss is definitely Thai food!

We chose this Thai food Restaurant, the Best of Thai Food for lunch recommendation. Here shows the information about this restaurant.

 Iced Coconut milk                     Tung Yim Kung rice noodles

                               

Thai noodles                              Thai Fried rice

                                  

 It’s Not Expensive at all!              Logo of the restaurant

                              

Brief information of the restaurant:

Address: No. 37, Fuk Lo Tsuen Road

Opening hours: 12:00nn-01:00a.m.

Expenses: $41-$100

4^th Stop: Cultural Visit

While heading towards our destinations, most of you would see that Kowloon City was slightly different from what is seen in other parts of urban Hong Kong. Kowloon City is actually a place where you can find tradition within modern. In the twentieth century, most of the buildings in Kowloon City are relatively short, with only 5 floors or below because of the height limit of the airport. But under redevelopment programs, the old buildings have been demolished and replaced by new high rise residential buildings. See the transformation!

5^th Stop 13:00- 15:00: a) Outlet Shopping

After seeing the traditional side and the transformation of Kowloon City, here’s come to the most exciting part for ladies! You may enjoy shopping in the outlets, buying well quality clothes, accessories and cosmetics products at a reasonable price. There are wide varieties of choices. In the meantime, you may also experience the unique culture of bargaining. Try to press the price as low as possible. This can help you saving money to buy more!

Well quality clothes imported from European and American Countries

The street is overwhelmed by outlet shops

In the $2 shop, you may find different goods, e.g. stationery, dishes, accessories

5^th Stop 13:00- 15:00: b) Kowloon City Plaza

If you don’t want to shop at the outdoor, there is another good option! The Kowloon City Plaza is right next to the outlet street. KCP is the icon of innovative and excitement. There are a variety of brand name shops (over 150 retail stores), such as Roxy and Adidas and diverse range of international eateries. You must be able to find things that suit your favor!

The newly- renovated Kowloon City Plaza

Famous Cosmetic Chain Shop

There are often exhibition or outlet held in the mall

6^th Stop 15:15- 16:15 : Afternoon Tea – Islam Food (清真牛肉館)

Why are we choosing this place?

Three-thirty is the time of afternoon tea. After shopping round you may feel a little bit tired and hungry. Hong Kong has the reputation of Food Paradise. In Kowloon city, you may also find the Multi-ethnic dining culture. Therefore, we would like to introduce you this traditional Islam restaurant- The Islam Food. It is one of the most popular restaurants in Kowloon City and it is famous for its JUICY BEEF CAKE, which attracts numberless celebrities coming to try! Yummy!

Islam Food Restaurant

                                  

The Juicy Beef Cake

Shredded Chicken with Bean Vermicelli

           

7^th Stop 16:30-1830: Festival Walk

Festival walk is one of the biggest shopping center in Hong Kong. It comprises of over 200 shops and restaurants, an 11 screens multiplex cinema and an ice rank.  This is not only a “shopping” mall. You may find different leisure facilities in it. Ladies can continue their shopping tour, while children and couples may go to play at the ice rank or watch a movie. Sure you will have a great time in it!

The Festival Walk

One of the largest skating rinks in Hong Kong



  

 

8^th Stop 18:45-21:00 Dinner – Hotpot (Fong Lo Kee)

        You have try out the unique Chinese dinning culture “Yum Cha” in the morning. For dinner, we are going to let you taste the Cantonese hotpot. Chinese have hotpot usually at the time of reunion and gathering in winter. People sit around a table and stand up to pick up food from the pot. You may choose the food you want to put in to the pot, such as sausages, meatballs or vegetables etc. It would be a very special experience to you.

The hotpot with two different tastes

                                

9^th Stop 21:00-22:00 Desert – Royal Dessert

        It almost comes to the end of the tour. The last place of the trip is having dessert in the Royal Dessert. Here you may try out different dessert. Desserts here are confused of western and Asian. You may eat delicious dessert and memories this fruitful trip at the same time.

The Royal Desert offers both traditional Chinese desert and Western Desert

                         

Love of the City

Memorable Tasted

            

 

  

Hope you would enjoy this trip! =]

Basic cost of the trip:

Transportation :$30

Breakfast: $50

Lunch: $50

Tea: $30

Dinner: $150

Total : $310



The first glimpse of the old Hong Kong- Sheung Wan Cultural Trip

         Sheung Wan, located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island , is part of the Central and Western District. The name can be variously interpreted as Upper District (occupying relatively high ground compared to Central and Wan Chai). It is a district with long history as it was one of the earliest settled places by the British, and belonged to the historical Victoria City. The early development of economy and trading business had turned Sheung Wan into a well-known trading district.

Back in the 1850s, Sheung Wan had been a place for commercial land use. Due to the adjacency to the sea, it had been developed into an entrepot. The Connaught Street West was the wholesale market of rice business while Des Voeux Road West (德輔道西)was concentrating on dried seafood and preserved food wholesaling. Throughout these hundreds of years, the original large sea port has been changed into large piece of flatland for commercial use due to reclamation. Today, you can still found the old trading firms in the inner part of Sheung Wan.

         Wing Lok Street (永樂街) is a street in Sheung Wan. The street is a marketplace for Chinese medicine and many varieties of dried seafood - especially shark fin. It is commonly known as Ginseng and Birds' Nest Street, sells an array of stores selling dried seafood, high end tonics and traditional medicine recipes. A hundred years ago, much of the food trade between the north and south of the island took place here, which explains the area’s alternative name 'South North Store'(南北行).Ginseng, Chinese medicines, dried seafood, rice, sugar and rubber – you can find it all here. Between the crowds and the tall buildings, a passer-by will still be able to spot some old landmarks, such as Kwon Yue Woi Painting shop, Yuen Kai Lum Box Tea House, Sing Woi Tong and Park Cheong Tong Ginseng & Herbs. The original decorations, aging owners and friendly staff all can tell their long stories and illustrious history.

1. Wing Lok Street永樂街
2. Bonham Strand East文咸東街
3. Bonham Strand West文咸西街
4. Ko Shing Street高陞街  

Before exploring Sheung Wan, you are suggested to have a meal at a renowned traditional Chinese Restaurant. You make have the opportunity to experience the culinary culture of the old Hong Kong. The traditional Chinese Restaurant we recommended is called Lin Heung Kui (蓮香居)

Traditional Chinese Restaurant may even strange to teenagers 

Undoubtedly, the freshly make Dim Sum is the most attractive food in the restaurant

Indeed, the walking tour can be divided into three major parts,

A. Dried Seafood   B.Chinese Traditional Medicine  C.Salted Fish

ITINERARY:


A. Dried Seafood
1.Tim Lap Hong + Hoi Lee Store
2.Cheung Lung Dried Seadfood Inc
3.Chiu Kwong Lee Ginseng Firm 
B. Chinese Traditional Medicine
4.Ko Shing Street Three Hing Company
5.Tai Tong Trading Company 
6. Hoi Cheung Ho
7.Tong Hing Tai Kee Dried Seafood
C. Salted Fish
8.Sang Wo Ho 
9.Yuen Tsuen


1st Stop a) Tim Lap Hong (天立行) b) Hoi Lee Retail Shop (海利店)

The first shop we visited was Tin Lap Hong and then we visited Hoi Lee Shop. 

Both sell a wide variety of dried seafood and dried sea cucumber is one of them. 

Dried Sea cucumber which is preserved with lime was harvested and dried for the use in Chinese cuisine as Hoi sam. 

Tin Lap Hong (天立行)

Hoi Lee Shop offers both retail and export services

There are over 650 species of sea cucumber, while only  about 10 of them have commercial value

When facing such a stone-like element, you may ask : How to cook it ?

Since it is dried for preservation purposes, it has to be rehydrated by boiling and soaking in water for several days.  Preparing dried sea cucumber can be time consuming and requires a lot of work.  The steps are as follow: 1.  Remove the skin of the sea cucumber 2.  Reconstitute it in water and drained it daily for 4 days; occasionally wash it under running     water 3.  Boil it with slices, ginger, or pineapple skin to remove ‘fishy’ odor. 4.  It expands to several times its original size and becomes soft again. 5.  Drain and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Once thing to remind, the sea cucumber will have a rubbery-tough-to-chew texture if it is not prepared properly.

The dried sea cucumber is described as "tasteless and bland" but it is prized for its slippery gelatinous texture.

Efficacy of sea cucumber

The dried sea cucumber is also used for traditional Chinese medicine due to different efficacy. Firstly, it attributes to male sexual health and aphrodisiac (催慾的) qualities according to Chinese folk belief. It is also considered a restorative for tendinitis (腱炎)and arthritis. Thirdly, it can help with preventing cancer and dealing with diabetes.

Dishes made by sea cucumber

There are a number of dishes made with sea cucumber as it has a strong cultural emphasis on health. Common ingredients going with sea cucumber dishes include winter melon, dried scallop (瑤柱), and Chinese cabbage(小白菜). It is mainly used as an ingredient in Chinese cuisine soups or stews with the flavorful stock in your mouth.. The sea cucumber can be cooked in many ways - stewed with ribs, stir fried in black pepper sauce, or boiled in chicken stocks . Its ability to absorb and accentuate the flavors of the ingredients makes it the best to be cooked in rich broth.

2nd stop Cheung Lung Dried Seadfood Inc. (昌隆海產有限公司)


The second retail shop we visited was this Cheung Lung Dried Seafood Inc. Dried Octopus and dried squid were the highlights at that time. Could you tell the difference between dried octopus and dried squid? It might be a challenging question to many people. Squid have two tentacles and eight arms while octopuses just have eight arms.


Dried octopus is fairly cheap and it is usually used to favor what the Chinese call "old fire" soup (long cooked soup) like lotus root and pork bone soup. If it is more costly, it can be soaked to reform and cut up for stir fry. Normally it is sold at more ten dollars a pound. 


Procedures to cook soup:
1. Cut the octopus up into small pieces (no bigger than 1 cm square)
2. Soak it in warm water to soften;
3. Put a handful of dried octopus into the soup

Dried Octopus

Dried squid
    Dried squid is sun-dried. Having a strong smell and chewy texture, it is used to add a distinctive flavor to soups and other dishes. It must be firstly soaked in water overnight to soften before using. Some cooks add baking soda to make the squid expand and soften further.

Dried Squid

3rd stop Chiu Kwong Lee Ginseng Firm 趙光利蔘茸行

This building can truly reveal the development of the dried seafood industry in Sheung Wan.

This whole building was initially owned by the Chiu family for storing inventories and wholesales. Gradually, it was sold to developers to earn money when the price of land kept increasing. Not only has the land use in that “Dried Seafood Street” changed over time, but also the operation mode. In the past, the majority of the sales is in form of Wholesaling. For local market, their major customers were the Chinese restaurants. Regarding international market, products were exported to Southeast Asian countries, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Mainland China. In contrary, there were only little shops provide dried sea food in form of retailing

Owing to the occurrence of Korean War(1950-53), the United States has set up an embargo towards Hong Kong, this made the “Dried Seafood Street” changed its operation mode from wholesaling to retailing.

Currently, most of the shops in “Dried Seafood Street” nowadays involve both wholesaling and retailing business. Some self-guided trip tourists from Mainland China will choose to purchase in “Dried Seafood Street” directly instead of buying in their mother land. Thus the export business of some shops in the “Dried Seafood Street” is greatly affected, and some of them may change from a wholesale to a retailer. Facing the downturn in business, some shops are trying to strike a balance between the price and the quality of the dried seafood products.

The only thing that remain unchanged is that the shops are still very care about their reputation, unless there is a continuous rise in food price, they have tried their best to maintain the quality of the dried sea food products.

4th stop Three Hing Company 三興行

The Three Hing Company is located at Ko Shing Street which is aslo called the Chinese Medicine Street

The fourth place we visited was the Three Hing Company selling items such as Eucommia and Flower Tea. The chrysanthemum that has not yet blossomed is of better quality because it is less air-polluted.

Three Hing Company

Medical uses as Chinese medicine:

The chrysanthemum is used in Chinese Traditional Medicine as an aid in recovery from influenza, acne and as a "cooling" herb. It prevents a sore throat and reduces a fever. Those who have eye pain, diminished vision, and dizziness can be prescribed this. Its another function is to clear the liver.

How to prepare the chrysanthemum tea?

1.     chrysanthemum flowers (usually dried) are steeped in hot water (usually 90 to 95 degrees Celsius );

2.     rock sugar is often added

3.     The resulting drink is transparent and ranges from pale to bright yellow in color, with a floral aroma.

   
 In Chinese tradition, once a pot of chrysanthemum tea has been drunk, hot water is typically added again to the flowers in the pot (producing a tea that is slightly less strong); this process is often repeated several times.

Eucommia(杜仲)

    Eucommia, also named Du Zhong in China, is a small tree native to China. Nearly threatened in the wild, it is widely cultivated in China for its bark of high content of Vitamin E, and highly valued in herbology such as Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

Efficacy of Eucommia

  It is capable of reducing blood pressure, calming the fetus and preventing miscarriage in pregnant women by soothing the uterus. Those who have back and leg pain, or arthritis problems may try this as this can treat them all. Some may take Eucommia to build strong bones and a flexible skeleton. It also wows people by its ability to heal tissues that are slow to mend after an injury or due to aging.

5th Tai Tong Trading Company (大同貿易公司)

Tai Tong Trading Company is  famous for its chenpi and zǎo(棗).

Chenpi陳皮

Chenpi is sun-dried mandarin peel used as a traditional seasoning in Chinese cooking and traditional medicine. They are aged by storing them dry. They have a pungent and bitter taste. As mentioned by the shop owner, chenpi’s taste is best matched with Chinese tong sui desserts such as red bean soup(紅豆沙) and the delicious taste is really unforgettable. The longer the time to store the Chenpi, the more valuable it is. In Tai Tong shop, there are chenpi stored for more than 51 years which can be sold at $2300 per catty. Chenpi contains Vitamin B and C. It can be used to treat phlegm(化痰).

Chenpi陳皮

Zǎo棗
Jujube(zǎo棗) are commonly used in Chinese traditional medicine, where they are believed to alleviate stress. Ziziphin, a compound in the leaves of the jujube, suppresses the ability to perceive sweet taste in humans. The fruit, being mucilaginous, is very soothing to the throat and decoctions of jujube have often been used in pharmacy to treat sore throats. Jujube tea , juice , vinegar and wine can be produced. It is said to be helpful in aiding the common cold.

The freshly harvested as well as the candied dried fruits are often eaten as a snack, or with tea. They are available in either red (hóng zǎo紅棗) or black ( hēi zǎo黑棗). The black one had being smoked(煙燻) to enhance their flavor. For this shop, they sell jī xīn zǎo(雞心棗) which is produced in a way of Indian smoking.

Zǎo棗

6th stop Hoi Cheung Ho (海昌號)
    This shop had a very long history by which it started its import and export business of dried seafood many years ago. Later, it changed into wholesale of a wide variety of goods including dried seafood, Chinese medicine, in other to diversify the products, as well as lower the risks. Now, it operation mode includes both wholesale and retail selling and is famous for the high quality of abalone. The shop owner, a very old man, is willing to share his experience and stories of the shop with the customers. 

Hoi Cheung Ho (海昌號)

There is a wide variety of Abalone in the shop

Abalone
Abalone (Bào yú) Bào yú is the common Chinese name given to abalone and also the dried seafood product produced from the adductor muscle of abalone. In dried form, it is a highly prized and expensive ingredient used in Chinese cuisine. In certain regional Chinese cuisines, its status ranks with such prized ingredients as shark's fin, sea cucumber and bird's nest.
Fresh abalone is rarely used in Chinese cuisine. It is often purchased in dehydrated form and rehydrated prior to cooking. Recently, the use of canned abalone in recipes has risen in popularity.
Places of origin include Northern Japan, north-eastern China, west coast of North America, South America and Australia. The best dried abalone is from Japan, while the best canned abalone is from Mexico. The larger the ‘head value’’, the more expensive the abalone, by which the ‘head value’ is measured by weighing the abalone, see how many abalone are there in one catty. Another way to qualify the abalone is to see whether the abalone with liquid core(溏心) or not.

7th stop Tong Hing Tai Kee Dried Seafood(同興泰記海味)


This dried seafood shop is famous for its long history and unique, old-styled design. It is there since 1919 and it witnessed the changes of Sheung Wan dried seafood street. The shop owner showed the old accounting books to us by which they still use Chinese brush to record the transaction today. Many tourists like taking photo in this traditional dried seafood shop.

Tong Hing Tai Kee Dried Seafood(同興泰記海味)

Chinese brush for recording the transaction

 

8th stop Sang Wo Ho(生和號)
    
Salted fish is the dried fish that is being pickled by salt before. Originally, the production of salted fish is to preserve the fresh fish from perishable. Salted fish can be divided into several categories , they are in Chinese called 梅香、實肉and 蒜子蓉, which are completely different in their texture. The most famous type of salted fish is the Cantonese fish called “馬友”. In recent years, the sources of fish are from Bangladesh and India due to the rapid decrease of fish amount and law restriction in Hong Kong . Salted fish is usually used for soup and fried rice in Hong Kong.

There are three major method of the preparation of salted fish

9th Yuen Tseun Ho(袁全號)

    This shop is located right next to Sang Wo Ho, which also mainly sells dried fishes. The shop owner recommended their dried stock fish (柴魚), which is dried without pickling by salt. They can tear the stock fish by hands which means their stock fish is in high quality. Stock fish is especially used in Chinese congee and soup.

9th Yuen Tseun Ho(袁全號)

Appendix: The future development of Sheung Wan and the dried seafood street

After the Construction of the West Island Line and urban redevelopment, Sheung Wan was more accessible so it will attract more tourists and foreigners who have interest in old-styled shops. The sales will be higher as a result.

Nonetheless, this lead to a surge in middle-income residential and commercial land use and so does the land price. Business tenants who cannot bear the high rent burden may sell their shops and fewer shops of historical value can be kept.