[Field-Homework 3] Hybrid City- Hawker Stalls

Luk Sin Ching Icy (3036227989)

Hybrid City: Hawker Stalls

Hawking could be described as one of the significant Hong Kong cultures. However, out of many factors, hawker stalls would vanish in a few decades. Creating a hybrid is a must to retain this hawking culture and ingratiate the urban.

Hawker stalls in Hong Kong are vendors of street food and affordable goods. For many decades, hawker stalls have served a purpose for the lower class to make a living in Hong Kong, allowing patrons to buy goods at a more affordable price and they are always easier to locate. From the 1940s to the 1970s, Hawking was the major economic development in Hong Kong.

Firstly, urban planning and development, which governments may prioritise in building a regulated and tidy urban image, where hawker stalls will be restricted or even banned in these districts. Secondly, hawker stalls are more likely to face problems of poor hygiene, as they work on the street, near the aqueducts, which contradicts the urban city image as citizens care a lot about hygiene. Thirdly, the preferences of consumers might change, shift in lifestyles and working patterns, or even changes in income. Citizens no longer tend to rely on hawking to earn a living.  Last but not least, economics might be the last factor. Rising rents, inflation, increased costs, etc, so many hawkers might give up in operating stalls.

Nowadays, the government has designated certain areas as “hawker-friendly zones”, organising food festivals or even turning the hawking culture into a tourist spot. For example, the Central Market (Fig.1), is a place for originally the hawker stalls which sell vintage Hong Kong stuff to operate retail stores here. Also, every year, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (Fig.2 ), will hold several events, such as a Book Fair, Food Expo, and Ani-Com & Games, these events include dozens of stalls, which could be described as another new form of hawker stalls.

(Fig 1. Central Market)                                                               (Fig.2 HKCEC)

 

Besides there are a lot of markets held in plazas, malls, and parks during different festivals. T.O.P. in Mong Kok will hold a monthly Design Gallery Bazaar, encouraging people to sell handmade crafts, such as earrings, accessories, and knitted dolls. Most certainly, there are a lot of Christmas markets, namely Stanley Plaza- Chillmas by the Sea (Fig 3), the Christmas market in Discovery Bay- Christmas Wonderland, and the shopping mall D2 Place (Fig 4). It might not be the traditional type of hawking, but a hybrid of hawker stalls and creativity. Inheriting the entrepreneurship of hawking through imagination by combining the hawking culture with modern lifestyle and preferences.

(Fig 3. Stanley Market)                                                                         (Fig 4. D2 Place)

 

Most of the researches are based on my own observations on-site, for example, Fa Yuen Street, Central Market, and Pottinger Street, where I have noticed the operating hawker stalls. The phenomenon is that originally hawker stalls are mostly in poorly developed districts, and lower living standards places, such as Mong Kok, and Sham Shui Po, yet there are more hawker stalls and markets being operated and held in places other than those. For example, Halloween markets, Christmas markets, and Art markets, for artists and crafters to sell handmade things. Not only does this inherit the spirit and culture of hawking, but it also encourages and creates a method and way for artists to earn a living. I could see a new form of hawker stalls, this is a hybrid of culture in this urban city.

Moving on to the filming technique, I have filmed most of the shots from eye levels, such as the AIA carnival, and Pottinger Street. While walking along Stone Slab Street, the camera was placed against my chest, where I could film from my point of view, calling the POV shot, seemingly the viewers are walking along this street together. At the end of the Fa Yuen Street shot, I used the low angle shot, where the camera was looking up to the sky and buildings on both sides, the same technique is used to film the AIA observation wheel. Because of the mentioned Christmas market in the text, I have included some Christmas-related shots. For the Londoner shot, I have used the bird’s eye view angle, around 90 degrees angle above the place I am filming. As for the Hong Kong Disneyland shots, I filmed from a low angle, looking upwards at the Christmas tree and the snow falling from the sky, and the camera panned between these two objects. Eventually, the overview of Fa Yuen Street is filmed on the sky bridge in Mong Kok, and filming the street from a higher angle, looking down over the street, where people are walking, selling, and buying things from the stalls, showing the ordinary life.

It has been a great experience to wander around Hong Kong, finding imaginative, creative, and interesting places to film. Seldom do I walk along the street of hawker stalls, it is definitely a fresh experience for me. Hawking would be a culture and habit from the older era, older age, yet this is a worthy culture and tradition to be preserved. Why is Fa Yuen Street, and Stone Slabs Street so crowded? Not only do locals trade here, but tourists also visit these “Hong Kong Culture” spots. Therefore, yes, hawking is one of the “landmarks” of Hong Kong other than the Victoria Harbour. The core of hawking is no longer the major source of income, the method to earn a living, but the spirit of hawking should be kept even for urban cities. Thus, hybrid is a crucial way to retain this traditional culture yet combine it with modern creativity. There are a lot of festivals, themes, and creative markets all around the world, the hawking sounds, people talking, and lights decorated over the stalls would be a harmonic scene to remember.

 

 

 

References

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Eats365 Hong Kong – Hong Kong’s Disappearing Street Vendors. Eats365. (n.d.). https://www.eats365pos.com/hk/en/blog/post/hong-kong-s-disappearing-street-vendors-142

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Singapore’s rising hawkers: Food, heritage, imagination, … (n.d.). https://www.oxfordsymposium.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Matwick.pdf

Libguides: Research Methods: What are research methods?. What are research methods? – Research Methods – LibGuides at University of Newcastle Library. (n.d.). https://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/researchmethods

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Event calendar. HKCEC. (n.d.). https://www.hkcec.com/en/event-calendar

100% Hong Kong designs. HKTDC Design Gallery. (n.d.). https://hkdesigngallery.hktdc.com/en/main/index.aspx

Leung, J. (2023, December 8). Christmas market 2023: Stanley Plaza Chillmas by the sea. Time Out Hong Kong. https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/things-to-do/stanley-plaza-christmas-market-2023-chillmas-by-the-sea

Guide to hong kong christmas fairs, bazaars, and markets 2024. Little Steps. (2024, January 9). https://www.littlestepsasia.com/hong-kong/events/shop-events/christmas-fairs-and-bazaars/

在能聞到鼻子氣息的距離下，寒冬也變暖. 由內到外的精緻●香港時尚生活網上雜誌. (n.d.). https://dimzi.co/christmas/article/dade06d6-48e3-4429-b42e-395d432ac39c

Central market 中環街市. (n.d.). https://www.centralmarket.hk/en