The Western District of Hong Kong is one of the best areas to experience authentic Chinese culture. Western District stock has soared in recent years, with the MTR’s Island Line extended from Sheung Wan to Sai Ying Pun, HKU and Kennedy Town in late-2014. Easier accessibility has brought gentrification and an influx of expat residents, cool restaurants and bars, new property developments, rising rents and a shorter version of the Mid-Levels Escalator up Sai Ying Pun’s steep Centre Street.

The district’s past was less than salubrious, however. While Central became the administrative and business hub during British rule in the 19th century, Western District was the dumping ground that saw an abattoir, morgue, mental asylum and brothels spring up. Excluded from the city boundaries, Chinese settlers made Western District their home, and turned it into a thriving commercial area with easy access to the harbour.

Stroll through its neighbourhoods and reminders of the past are easily found even as the skyscrapers of Central encroach. Traditional dried-goods stores do a steady trade on busy Connaught Road West, which throngs with people, trams and traffic year-round. These stores, along with seafood and produce markets, are a favourite of chefs and food lovers, who find inspiration and flavours of Hong Kong in their many and varied offerings.

The further west you go, the quieter it gets, with a mix of residential buildings and greenery spilling down to the sea at Kennedy Town and Sai Wan, where old-timers still take a dip in the harbour by day, while millennials head there in the evening to snap sunset photos for social media posts.

So near yet a world away from Central, Western District shows that you don’t have to stray far to see the evolution of a city, to enjoy the old and the new, the traditional and the hip, and to experience Hong Kong like a real local.

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What to do & See ?

This is one of the best places to find Chinese-made goods at reasonable prices. You can buy Chinese-style clothing and souvenir items, as well as herbal products.  One of the best places to find all these items in one place is CRC, a 6-story department store that offers numerous Chinese products. From this area, the fastest way to access the rest of the district is to use the Hillside Escalator. You will get a great view of the area around you.

One of the most popular streets in the Western District is Staunton Street. It's very popular with tourists because of the number of restaurants offering different types of cuisine that are featured here. Some of the food choices offered at the restaurants are as diverse as Nepalese and Cajun.

You can also enjoy coffee from Western-style cafes. Part of the Sun Yatsen Historical Trail runs through this area, and one of the places you can see is the Revive China Society headquarters. The historical landmarks on this trail are marked by distinctive red signs.

The best place for buying antiques and similar items in the Western District is Hollywood Road. The stores differ in price ranges, with some selling inexpensive second-hand items, and others selling expensive antiques and handcrafted furniture.

Visitors often thoroughly explore the shops to see what's available, because most of the stores are very well-stocked. Some of the many things that can be purchased from these shops include porcelain items and Blackwood chests. Go down Ladder Road, which has a very impressive staircase, to Cat Street. You'll find more antiques and other unique shops on this street, which has a very colorful history.

You'll want to stop by the area around Queen's Road West and Des Voeux Road West for interesting items while you're in the Western District. You can buy incense and paper lanterns, as well as dried seafood that's believed to be useful for medicinal purposes.

You'll also find shops that specialize in herbal teas. You'll be able to visit Man Wa Lane nearby, which is home to several shops that sell quality crafts. You can buy jade sculptures, as well as several other items that are handcrafted. Another landmark in this district is the Western Market, which is housed in a beautiful Edwardian-style building. The main market area sells food, and there are also crafts available on the upper level.

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