Travel
Treasure trove hunting in Sham Shui Po
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Shop owners say most customers are the locals. Yet, the market is also increasingly popular among foreign tourists. Most shoppers come after noon , as the street is designated as a pedestrian zone from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily.
At the intersection of Apliu Street and Nam Cheong Street , there lies the Nam Cheong pawn shop on the right. Yu Chau Street is just at the corner, running parallel to Apliu Street .
Yu Chau Street is a paradise for do-it-yourself lovers. Shops there sell all kinds of materials for making accessories.
Beads of different textures such as plastic, metal, wooden, crystal and glass are sold in those 10-odd shops.
Plastic beads are the cheapest, costing only a few Hong Kong dollars for 100 grams, customer Queenie Yu said.
Other components like buckles and strings can also be found in the shops. They can be made into colourful and unique necklaces, bracelets, earrings and key-chains.
¡§Different kinds of people come to select beads. Our customers are mostly young people, OLs (office ladies) and housewives,¡¨ said a staff of the Jing Jing Beads who identified herself as Chan only. She said some customers bought beads for their accessory businesses while others got them just for fun.
Chan said it would cost less than $100 to make a necklace that looked similar to those fashionable ones shown in magazines. But customers need to bring along the designs, as her shop does not provide any designing service.
Beads made of higher quality materials are much more expensive than plastic beads. For example, crystal beads cost $40 per 100 grams. Making a simple key-chain of those beads may cost about $50.
Cheaper crystal beads can be found at stalls scattered along the adjacent Ki Lung Street , though the variety of their products is narrower than that sold in the shops in Yu Chau Street .
Skilled DIY lovers can further challenge themselves by making clothes on their own. They can choose their fabrics in Ki Lung Street .
Customers select second-hand goods at a stall in Apliu Street.
