Tai Yuen Street

Woah, colours!
This is one of the best street markets I have ever seen. Ever. It has everything. Toys and gifts and books and crafts and weird things that I still am not sure what they were.
It was a lot of toys though and I saw kids going crazy on this street. I couldn’t blame them, I was kind of going a little crazy myself.
If you have the time and can get through the crowds, I would not miss this street. It was so damn cool.

Tai Yuen Street is probably what every tourist come to Hong Kong to see– street markets selling everything imaginable, being lined on both sides like a canyon by skyscrapers and in general a very traditional view of Hong Kong.
The thing is though, these markets are as rare as hens teeth these days. As I have mentioned once and before, land is an absolute premium in Hong Kong these days and developers would snap these places and re-​develop them into huge air conditioned malls and zillion dollar apartments on top.
I can’t say I am a Tai Yuen Street native– I had only discovered this location a few years back when I was on a search for tomica toy cars when I was told I should come here. I was cynical to begin with as I felt this place only sold street market items (an assortment of items but toys) hence I came here hastily expecting to find nothing. How wrong I could be. This is a heaven for toy lovers because half the shops at the Wanchai end of the street sells toys– not just cars but models and toys for toddlers as well. As you progress down the street you will find shops selling seasonal decorative items as well as fancy dress for fancy dress parties– I got something here for a Halloween party that we had and I am happy to report that it got me all the attention I need at a price of a few drinks. Happy man and happy days.
With my clubbing days gone though, I still visit to continue my quest to collect toy cars and find myself venturing on further; there are gardening shops at the back and a wet market just around the corner. I guess this is what you literally call «advancing with age” — the older you get, the further back you walk up the street for stuff that’s right for you.

If you have kids, you have two choices, bring them to Tai Yuen Street «Toy» Market, and potentially see them melt down with the onslaught of colour and sound, or never, ever, ever tell them that such an amazing haven of tat exists. I personally would go for option two — haha! Even if you are coming stag, you will surely be mesmerised by the cheesy goodness of those classic old school toys that scream at you from inside the myriad of stores.
Tai Yuen Street Market is a really fun place to come and have your sense assaulted by stuff! There are all sorts of decorations, stocking fillers, toys, coloured pencils. Basically, imagine the most useless thing that you can possibly think of, and you’ll probably be able to find it here.
This market is ideal for shopping for party favours. You’ve got to get 30 treat bags filled with stuff for little Johnny’s school chums, this is where you come. There are matchbox cars for the boys, Hello Kitty for the girls (no, not being sexist, just stop being an old stick), little stationery sets, bubble guns, footballs, toy jewellery, the list just goes on and on! When I got married to the lovely Mrs L, we had a few kids coming to the reception, so rather than have a bunch of rug rats running around high on cake and fizzy pop, we filled a trunk with goodies and they were set for the night!
My advice is to make sure you bring a big shopping bag, or even better a full on rucksack, when you come here. You are bound to fill it, but will probably also go home with a pretty full wallet too, as nothing here is more than a few dollars.
Last note, there are also a lot of decorations here too, like paper lanterns etc. Definitely check it out for those if you need to do a quick and dirty Chinese style decorate for a party.
Tai Yuen Street Market is a wonderful place to have a wander and a shop. You may also find yourself shedding a small nostalgic tear for the toys of our past.