From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mong Kok |
 |
| Sai Yeung Choi Street
South in Mong Kok |
| Chinese |
旺角 |
| Literal meaning |
flourishing/busy corner |
|
|
Mong Kok or Mongkok (Chinese:
旺角; the English name is a transliteration
of its older name 望角 or 芒角 which is pronounced "Mong Gok", and
named after its plentiful supply of ferns in the past when it was a
coastal region. Its present Chinese name "旺角" is pronounced "Wong
Gok") is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District on Kowloon
Peninsula, Hong
Kong, China. Before a 1994 merge, Mong Kok was part of the Mong Kok
District.
The name in Chinese means "flourishing/busy corner". Recent road
works revealed some antique potteries, indicating that there might
be settlements that early as Jin Dynasty
(265-420). [1]
The district is characterized by a mixture of old and new
multi-story buildings, with shops and restaurants at street level and commercial
or residential units above. Major industries in Mong Kok are retail,
restaurants (including fast food) and entertainment.
Mong Kok's population density is extremely
high, according to Guinness World Records, Mong Kok
has the highest population density in the world (mean 130,000 per
km2 or 340,000 per mi2) and with a
development multiple of four.
History of
Mong Kok
The area of Mong Kok has changed a lot over the years. The heart
of the present-day Mong Kok was Ho Man Tin whilst the proper Mong Kok was
north of it, near present-day Mong Kok East Station of MTR. With cultivated lands, it was
bounded south by Argyle Street, west by
Coronation Road (present-day Nathan Road), and east by the hills. To its
south is Ho Man Tin and west Tai Kok Tsui. Stream from the hills east
offered water for cultivation.
On 10 August 2008 the Cornwall Court fire broke out. More
than 200 firefighters were involved in the rescue operation with 4
dead, including 2 fire fighters.[2]
Streets
& Markets
Mong Kok preserves its traditional characteristics with an array
of markets, small shops, and
food stalls that have already disappeared from other areas in Hong
Kong over the past several decades of economic developments. As
such, a few of these streets in Mong Kok have acquired interesting
nicknames reflecting their own characteristics. Some interesting
sites are:
- Ladies'
Street (女人街, Ladies' market on Tung Choi
Street) - This market specializes in women's clothing,
accessories, cosmetics, and the like. It is open daily from noon to
00.00 a.m. at Tung Choi Street on the east of Nathan Road. Typically,
where there is a market, there are also food stalls selling
noodles, seafood, and congee
for mid-afternoon or late-night snacks. A grocery market is also
located in the vicinity, quite convenient for housewives to buy
fresh vegetables and pantyhose on the same trip.
- Sai Yeung
Choi Street South, (西洋菜南街) - A street full of shops selling
consumer electronic products, comestics, and discount books, the
last of which usually located on the lower floors above ground
floor of buildings.
- Temple Street (廟街, sometimes
referred to as Men's Street), extending into Jordan, is
also in the area, however, the area famous for the Hong Kong
specific goods are only in the section between Yau Ma Tei and
Jordan.
- Bird Garden - Hundreds of songbirds in exquisitely crafted
cages can be seen at this market, which is on the other side of
Nathan Road on Yuen Po Street. The garden is open from 10 a.m. to 6
p.m. It is close to Mong Kok East MTR Station and Mong Kok
Stadium. Packed with booths selling birds, Hong Lok Street
(Bird Street, 雀仔街) was closed as part of an urban renewal project
in June 1998. The Garden was constructed by the government to
accommodate some of the booths.
- Fa Yuen
Street (花園街, sometimes referred to as 波鞋街, which means
Sneakers Street) - This is a small neighbourhood with many
small retailers which sell sports equipment and clothing. It has a
wide diversity of sports shoes, including many shoes of rare or
special editions from different places.
- Flower Market Road (花墟道) - This is a street market near the
Mong Kok East MTR Station with lots of flower shops and street
hawkers showing colourful displays, the sweet scents and the exotic
blossoms of many houseplants.
- Goldfish Market - There are a dozens shops and hawkers selling
various tropical freshwater or marine fish near the MTR train
station. Different types of aquarium equipments can also be found
there. This market opens very early in the morning.
- Tile Street - This is a section of Portland Street near Argyle Street and Bute
Street with more than 50 retailers selling materials for
construction or renovation, such as tiles, wall paper, window
frames and bath tubs.
- Photocopy Street (影印街) - A neighbourhood near Ho Man Tin is noted for
having remarkable number of photocopying shops due to the number of
schools in the vicinity. The students from those schools have
creates a great demand for photocopying, mostly
for copyrighted textbooks
and class handout, in mass quantity.
Some popular shopping plazas are located in this dense area,
including:
- Sino Centre Arcade (信和中心) – In this plaza,
there are many products about Japanese cartoons, such as Video CDs, DVDs, and comics. Beside that, there are shops
selling music CD albums, including ones by Hong Kong, Japanese, and
western pop singers.
- Ho King
Shopping Centre (好景商場)- In this plaza, you can find many
products having to do with computer and video games. They are sold
for relatively low prices compared with other shops. The fourth
floor of the plaza is infamous for being formerly the biggest base
of pornographic CDs and DVDs. These have recently been diminished
in a large operation by the police and customs, although this
action has driven some shops to the office section of the building,
with the products and customers causing distress to female workers
there.
- Grand Century Place (新世紀廣場) - This is a new plaza next to the
Mong Kok East MTR station. Most of the famous-brand and popular
shops can be found here.
- Langham
Place (朗豪坊)- This shopping mall/hotel/office complex opened in
2004 in central Mong Kok. Built according to the Hong Kong
Government urban redevelopment scheme, and at 59 stories high, it
is the tallest landmark in Mong Kok.
- Argyle Centre (旺角中心) - This usually crowded centre, located
next to the Mong Kok MTR station, has shops
selling low-priced clothes and shoes.
Food
The Mong Kok area has many curb-side "food-booths". Most of them sell traditional
snacks such as fish balls, fried beancurd (tofu) and various dim sum. These snacks and "fingerfood" are very
popular in Hong Kong, especially for folks on the run.
Many different kinds of cuisines, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, and Thai food, can be found in the area.
Transport
Traffic congestion in Mong Kok.
Mong
Kok in popular culture
Mong Kok was the setting for the 2004 hit film One Night in Mongkok directed by Derek Yee. The movie
portrays Mong Kok, one of the most densely populated places on
Earth, as a hotbed of illicit activity. Similarly, the district was
also the setting of the 1996 film Mongkok Story (旺角風雲)
directed by Wilson Yip
which depicts a young man who becomes involved in a Triad gang.[3][4] The
literal Chinese title of the 1988 film As
Tears Go By by Wong Kar-wai is "Mong Kok Carmen". Part of
Robert Ludlum's
The Bourne Supremacy was set
in Mong Kok.
See also
References
- ^
Kan, Nelson Y. Y. and Tanf, Miranda K. L. New Journey Through
History 1A. Published by Aristo Educational Press LTD. Chapter
two, P.48.
- ^
Yahoo. "Yahoo.com." Four dead
as HK nightclub fire spreads. Retrieved on 28 August
2008.
- ^
IMDB. "IMDB.com." Wong Gok
fung wan. Retrieved on 28 August 2008.
- ^
Yahoo.com. "Movies.yahoo.com."
Mongkok story. Retrieved on 28 August 2008.
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