Mahjong is a tile-based game that was developed in China during the Qing dynasty and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-player variations found in Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia). The game and its regional variants are widely played throughout Eastern and South Eastern Asia and have also become popular in Western countries. The game has also been adapted into a widespread online entertainment. Similar to the Western card game rummy, Mahjong is a game of skill, strategy, and calculation, and it involves a degree of chance. Source: Wikipedia

Photo credit: Etsy HK

Where to buy: Wing Wah Mahjong (13 Aberdeen St, Central)

Tel: +852 9035 5848

For more than a hundred years, with its well-known Medicated Oil and Healing Balm, Po Sum On has been an integral part of Hong Kong people’s life and has become a must-have in every household’s medicine cabinet.

Mr. Kwok Chu Nam, founder of Po Sum On and an expert in Chinese herbal medicine, developed a topical oil with a fine blend of medicinal herbs to treat a variety of ailments, naming it the “Po Sum On Medicated Oil”, an oil to assure the well-being of the whole family. The product’s therapeutic effectiveness was proven, and in 1907, the “Po Sum On Medicine Factory” was officially registered as a Hong Kong manufacturer, with its first shop opening at Li Yuen Street West, Central. In 1910, the company adopted the image of a bouncing, happy-looking, heart-warming Chinese boy (Tóngzǐ) as its registered trademark, a symbol of lasting prosperity and joy in traditional Chinese culture. Source: Po Sum On

Photo credit: tabilover.jcb.jp

Where to buy: Any pharmacy in Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2545 1403

Website: Po Sum On Hong Kong

Processed with silver shrimp, shrimp paste is a condiment commonly used in Cantonese and Thai cuisines. Due to the sea-facing location of Tai O, the abundance of silver shrimp gives rise to the local specialty.

In the heyday of the shrimp past trade, there were about 10 manufactories in Tai O. Silver shrimps sourced from local fishermen were salted, crushed and fermented before they were grounded for sundrying in bamboo sieves. The semi-products were mixed well and dried under the sun a few times to become shrimp paste. The trade has now slipped into decline and the traditional flavour is gradually vanishing.

Sing Lee Shrimp Sauce and Paste Manufactory has been operating in Tai O for more than 80 years.  It has upheld the handmade tradition and insisted on using local ingredients in their products, both of which are essential to the unique and memorable taste and aroma of shrimp paste, a must-buy when you visit Tai O village! Source: np360.com.hk

Photo credit: tabilover.jcb.jp

Where to buy: Sing Lee Shrimp Sauce & Paste Manufacturer (10 Shek Tsai Po, Tai O)

Tel: +852 2985 7330

Website: Sing Lee Shrimp Sauce & Paste Manufacturer

Hours: Monday to Sunday: 10:00am - 07:00pm

A seal, in an East and Southeast Asian context, is a general name for printing stamps and impressions thereof which are used in lieu of signatures in personal documents, office paperwork, contracts, art, or any item requiring acknowledgment or authorship. The process started in China and soon spread across East Asia. China, Japan, and Korea currently use a mixture of seals and hand signatures, and, increasingly, electronic signatures.

Chinese seals are typically made of stone, sometimes of metals, wood, bamboo, plastic, or ivory, and are typically used with red ink or cinnabar paste. The colloquial name chop, when referring to these kinds of seals, was adapted from the Hindi word chapa and from the Malay word cap, meaning stamp or rubber stamps. In Japan, seals (hanko) have historically been used to identify individuals involved in government and trading from ancient times. The Japanese emperors, shōguns, and samurai each had their own personal seal pressed onto edicts and other public documents to show authenticity and authority. Even today Japanese citizens' companies regularly use name seals for the signing of a contract and other important paperwork. Source: wikipedia

Photo credit: tabilover.jcb.jp

Where to buy: Tangs Store in Peninsula Hotel (Mezzanine Shop No. MW4, The Peninsula Hong Kong, 22 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui)

Tel: +852 2721 1382

Website: Tangs Hong Kong

Hours: Monday to Sunday: Open 24 hours

A sweetheart cake or wife cake or marriage pie is a traditional Cantonese pastry with a thin crust of flaky pastry, and made with a filling of winter melon, almond paste, and sesame, and spiced with five spice powder. “Wife cake" is the translation of lou po beng from Cantonese, and although the meaning is "wife", the literal translation is "old lady cake", paralleling the colloquial usage of "old lady" for "wife" in American English.

The traditional variant is from the Guangdong-Hong Kong region, where the filling consists of candied wintermelon.The candied wintermelon mash is then combined with white sesame seeds and glutinous rice flour. Coconut in the form of mash or desiccated shreds and almond paste, as well as vanilla, are also added sometimes. The authentic flavour and flaky texture of the pastry is produced by using pork lard shortening then by glazing with egg wash. Due to its rising popularity in Western countries brought about by immigration, butter is sometimes substituted in place of lard, though this will alter the taste. The level of sweetness is mild, compared to Western sweet pastries. Source: wikipedia

Photo credit: Hang Heung

Where to buy: Hang Heung Cake Shop (579 Nathan Road, Shop 1, Mong Kok, Kowloon), Hang Heung has 3 other branches, please click the link to their website for more info.

Tel: +852 2476 3080

Website: hangheung.com.hk

Hours: Monday to Sunday 08:00am - 08:00pm

The abacus (plural abaci or abacuses), also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool that was in use in the ancient Near East, Europe, China, and Russia, centuries before the adoption of the written Arabic numeral system. The exact origin of the abacus is still unknown. Today, abacuses are often constructed as a bamboo frame with beads sliding on wires, but originally they were beans or stones moved in grooves of sand or on tablets of wood, stone, or metal.

Although today many use calculators and computers instead of abacuses to calculate, abacuses still remain in common use in some countries. Merchants, traders and clerks in some parts of Eastern Europe, Russia, China and Africa use abacuses, and they are still used to teach arithmetic to children. Some people who are unable to use a calculator because of visual impairment may use an abacus. Source: wikipedia

Photo credit: Yue Hwa

Where to buy: Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium (301-309 Nathan Road, Kowloon)

Tel: +852 3511 2222

Website: yuehwa.com

Hours: Monday to Sunday 10:00am - 10:00pm

Jade has been culturally significant to the Chinese for thousands of years. It was a symbol for the worship of heaven and earth. It was seen to embody beauty, righteousness and knowledge. Known as the ‘stone of heaven’, it was considered pure and enduring enough to inspire the highest spiritual aspirations in the wearer. When Emperor Qin Shi Huang brought together the six warring states and unified China in 221B.C., he chose the famous He Shi Bi jade for his Imperial Seal, inscribed with the words: ‘Having received the Mandate from Heaven, may (the Emperor) lead a long and prosperous life.’

For 2,000 years, the stone known as jade was actually nephrite, which was indigenous to China. Jadeite was only introduced to the empire during the Qing dynasty, when traders began exporting it from Burma in 1784. By the 19th century, Burmese jadeite had become the most highly prized gemstone of the Manchu aristocracy. It was the favourite of Empress Dowager Cixi, who loved its bright, vivid colours — it had finally reached pre-eminence as the Imperial Stone, the most precious object in China.

Today, jadeite is still highly coveted by the Chinese as well as collectors around the world. It can be found in a variety of colours, such as lavender, yellow, russet-brown and black, but it is the green stone containing chromium that is the most cherished. The value of jadeite is based upon three important criteria: colour, translucency and texture. Source: christies.com

Photo credit: christies.com

Where to buy: Shun Tak Tong (Shop No. MW2, Mezzanine Floor, The Peninsula Hong Kong, 22 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui)

Tel: +852 2368 3066

Hours: Monday to Sunday 11:00am - 8:00pm

Hong Kong is well known for its highly efficient, world-class transportation system that connects the whole of Hong Kong. WIth land transport comprises the MTR (Mass Transit Railway) system, taxis, buses, minibusses and tramways as well as ferry services connecting between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, and to the Outlying Islands.

A visit to Hong Kong will not be complete without taking a ride on trams, or Ding Ding, (how the locals call it). It is one of the oldest forms of transportation in Hong Kong, started in 1904 until present. And it is just right to get one of these mini trams or other model of transport you have experienced on your visit as a keepsake! 80M Shop is a one-stop-shop specializing in the design and sale of mini model transportation means. It has a collection of over 1000 models made of metals, plastic, paper, crystal, porcelain, and other materials.

Photo credit: 80M Shop

Where to buy: 80M Bus Model Shop (G/F, KP-4, Star Ferry Pier, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon)

Tel: +852 2851 3635

Website: 80mbusmodel.com

Hours: Monday to Sunday 11:00am - 8:00pm

Shanghai Tang is a Hong Kong luxury fashion house founded in 1994 by Hong Kong businessman David Tang. The brand is known for its luxury clothing, combining traditional Shanghainese tailoring with contemporary design and fabrics, Shanghai Tang is the ultimate interpretation of modern Chinese couture.

David Tang stated that Shanghai Tang is a Chinese label that set out to rejuvenate Chinese fashion of the 1920s and 1930s. The fundamental design concept is inspired by the 1920s Cheongsam combined with the modernity of the 21st century. Shanghai Tang is noted for its use of Chinese culture and heritage in its product styling, branding, and marketing, making it a perfect gift to buy while you’re in Hong Kong!

Photo credit: Shanghai Tang

Where to buy: Shanghai Tang Mansion (1 Duddell Street, Central, Hong Kong)

Tel: +852 25257333

Website: shanghaitang.com

Hours: Monday to Sunday 11:00am - 8:00pm

Heading Raja Fashions is the effervescent Raja Daswani whose grandfather emigrated from the abounding northern India to Hong Kong where he set up a custom tailoring business. His father, uncles and aunts followed in their father’s footsteps. It was natural that Raja too would enter the trade.

With his love of the business and expertise in custom made fine clothing along with hard work and enthusiasm, Raja Daswani, the heir to a dignified family of high-end tailoring, decided to carry on the family business and open what’s today a global enterprise. Since 1957 the business has set itself a reputation that stretches seamlessly across the globe including the House of Lords, Downing Street and covering all the major cities around the world. Source: tailor-m.com

Photo credit: raja-fashions.com

Where to buy: Raja Fashion Shop (34-C Cameron Road, G/F,Tsim Sha Tsui Kowloon, Hong Kong)

Tel: +852 25439988

Website: raja-fashions.com

Hours: Monday to Saturday 10:00am - 8:00pm