Hong Kong: The wet market on Graham Street

Hong Kong’s oldest street market is on Graham Street, just around the corner from our hotel. The market is a so-called wet market selling all sorts of seafood, meat and fresh produce. It looked a bit chaotic, but at a closer look it was clear how the market was divided into different sections, so the meat and the vegetables stalls were kept apart.

On traditional wet markets, poultry was often sold while still alive, so the customers could inspect the condition of the animal, before it was killed right in front of them, but after SARS this practice is no longer allowed.

The market on Graham Street attracts a lot of tourists, but I really liked that even though we weren’t the only ones bringing our cameras that day, there was still a lot of trading going on. These stalls weren’t just for the tourists to stare at, but actually a place, at which people living nearby, could get their supplies of fresh chicken feet or duck tongue for tonight’s dinner.

I love a good steak, but I don’t like to be reminded of the fact that the steak actually comes from a dead cow, which used to be a live cow, and maybe even a happy cow. It’s usually not a problem in the supermarket, when I only see the packs of meat in the cold counter.

Sometimes I’m even able to convince myself that these are steaks from the steak tree (yeah right!). Though at the wet market, everything is very in-your-face, and every part of the animal is sold here. I know it’s hypocritical big time, but I ended up having a vegetarian burger for lunch that day:)