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They say the only way to get to know a place is to do what the locals do. When in Rome, scoot around on a Vespa and drink espresso. When in Hong Kong, shop. For most people in this city, shopping is a leisure activity, whether that means picking out a four-figure party dress, rifling through bins at an outlet, upgrading a cell phone, or choosing the freshest fish for dinner.
Shopping is so sacred that sales periods are calendar events, and most stores close on just three days a year—Christmas Day and the first two days of Chinese New Year. Imagine that: 362 days of unbridled purchasing. Opening hours are equally conducive to whiling your life away browsing the racks: all shops are open until 7 or 8 pm; many don't close their doors until midnight.
It's true that the days when everything in Hong Kong was mind-bogglingly cheap are over. It is still a tax-free port, so you can get some good deals. But it isn't just about the savings. Sharp contrasts and the sheer variety of experiences available make shopping here very different from back home.
You might find a bargain or two elbowing your way through a chaotic open-air market filled with haggling vendors selling designer knockoffs, the air reeking of the chou tofu ("stinky" tofu) bubbling at a nearby food stand. But then you could find a designer number going for half the usual price in a hushed marble-floor mall, the air scented by the designer fragrances of your fellow shoppers. What's more, in Hong Kong the two extremes are often within spitting distance of each other.
Needless to say, thanks to travelers like you running out of space in their suitcases, Hong Kong does a roaring trade in luggage. No need to feel guilty, though—shopping here is practically cultural research. All you're doing is seeing what local life is really like.
Run by Hong Kong's foremost arts printer, this space combines an appointment-only exhibition area with a bookshop filled with thousands of rare, collectible art and photography books. It's located under the same roof as the printing presses, in an industrial building.
This bookstore spans two floors and has a good selection of English books and magazines. Lifestyle shops from small local businesses dot around the space and sell everything from jewelry to snacks. The store can be accessed at street level or via Harbour City.
Stocking alternative-spirited books, graphic novels, magazines, and music in a variety of foreign languages, Kubrick is the closest thing to a bilingual community bookshop you're likely to find in Hong Kong. Coming here will give you a good, if slightly unpolished, sense of the city's contemporary culture. As an added bonus, the store is attached to a cinema that regularly shows art-house flicks and a casual café that occasionally hosts poetry readings or music gigs. When seeking directions, ask for the Broadway Cinemateque.
It's a local institution, a bookstore, and a cat sanctuary, all rolled into one. This longstanding shop in the basement of an unassuming mall has a vast range of mostly Chinese books and foreign-language tomes that span Japanese manga and Nordic thrillers, among which a collection of rescued felines sprawl. While you're free to browse the books, don't touch the cats—the owner is adamant that this isn't a petting zoo.
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