8 Best Shopping Experiences in Wan Chai

Hong Kong loves to group types of products together and if you walk west from Wan Chai MTR Station, along Queen’s Road East, you'll find a whole host of furniture and homeware shops. They are mostly chic boutiques and high-end office furniture shops with products sourced from across the world, so don’t expect to find many bargains. 

But if you’re looking for something stylish to brighten up your home, Queen's Road East is one of the best places in Hong Kong. Shop owners are well versed at catering to foreigners and will offer to pack and send your goods to your home address for an additional fee.

Star Street and its surrounding lanes are the creative hub of Wan Chai and you'll find fashion brands, such as Japanese label R45, furniture design company OVO Studio and British lifestyle brand Monocle.

As well as boutique shopping, the whole area is pleasant to walk around, clearly benefiting from the ongoing gentrification of Wan Chai with greenery and benches. This small area of boutique shops, cafes and restaurants was formerly the area around Hong Kong’s first power station, but now you will find exclusive furniture and fashion, new world cuisine and fancy cocktail bars instead.

This packed street market is filled with toy shops selling everything from Barbie dolls to Lego bricks and board games, often sold for cheaper than in department stores.

There are also a few hawkers selling clothes and souvenirs so it’s great for a browse even if you don’t intend to buy anything. Tai Yuen Street Market runs down the one side of Wan Chai Wet Market, from Queens Road East to Hennessey Road.

Brim 28 is a small dining and shopping mall on Harbour Road, linking Wan Chai with Causeway Bay. Although definitely catering more towards dining than shopping, there are still a few stores of note open here, including Chinese Arts and Crafts shop for budding artists, as well as a deli serving imported goods.

Wan Chai Computer Centre is one of the biggest electronics malls in Hong Kong, stocking every conceivable gadget and gizmo, from laptops to micro SD cards to waterproof cameras and everything in between.

You can pick up some great bargains here and with so many shops it’s worth your time to shop around looking for the best price. Even if the shop owner won’t budge on the price, they will often throw in free extras to get you to hand over your cash. But with narrow walkways and hundreds of fellow bargain hunters, it’s not the most relaxing shopping experience.

Oriental 188 Shopping Centre is an electronics mall with computers, consoles, mobile phones and all manner of accessories and most at competitive prices. While the range of products is not as thorough as Wan Chai Computer Centre, this shopping centre is renowned as a place for gamers to pick up games and for its wide range of manga and DVDs.

With 4 floors of designer labels, dining options and a multi-screen cinema, Pacific Place Shopping Mall has a complete range of high-end goods available. Fendi, Hermes, Chanel, Cartier…practically all the world’s leading fashion brands can be found here.

Located a little to the west of Wan Chai, with a direct link to Admiralty MTR Station, this stylish mall is walking distance from many of Hong Kong’s finest hotels including Conrad, and Shangri-La Hong Kong.

A browse around Wan Chai Wet Market isn’t everyone’s idea of fun, but some people love to look at the fresh produce, experience the sensory overload that is particular to wet markets and watch the locals go about their business.

Every conceivable fresh ingredient is for sale, from hanging meats and fish to herbs and spices from China and beyond. Although a tenderloin of beef might be a little awkward to take back to your hotel, Wan Chai Wet Market is a great place to pick up some fresh fruit for a midday snack.