Sham Shui Po is the part of Kowloon that tourists rarely reach and residents wouldn't give up. It is Hong Kong's old working-class heartland: dense, affordable, and full of specialist shops that serve trades rather than tourists. The electronics and computer district along Apliu Street and Nam Cheong Street has components, second-hand gadgets, and obsolete hardware at prices that suggest the whole city is being recycled. The fabric and garment district around Ki Lung Street sells textiles by the metre to tailors and small manufacturers.
The area also has some of Hong Kong's best and cheapest eating — roast goose shops, wonton noodle stalls, and cha chaan tengs that have been in the same location for thirty years. The Sham Shui Po waterfront, recently redeveloped, offers views across to Stonecutters Island. The MTR puts you here in twenty minutes from Central, and the contrast with the polished central districts is complete.