Is Mong Kok Worth Visiting? Best Things To Do in Half Day
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Mong Kok is worth visiting, it also has plenty of things to do that can occupy you for at least half a day or more. As a local with world travel experience, I guarantee you this is the most unique place in Hong Kong, especially for first-time travelers.
In short, by visiting Mong Kok for half day, you can accomplish multiple objectives. That ranges from shopping for unique souvenirs, visiting tourist attractions, indulging yourself in the local youngster frequenting shopping malls, tasting all Hong Kong street food, and taking one of the best pictures.
Despite the variety of items available, it is not expensive and you just need half a day to cover the main attractions. Because most of Mong Kok’s things to do are located at “Sai Yeung Choi Street South”, “Tung Choi Street” and “Fa Yuen Street”. These three streets are just next to each other. It is very easy to navigate and there will be an official information board for attractions like the Ladies’ Market and Bird Garden).
I will start with how to get to Mong Kok, walk you through the basic map, and then show you the best things to do locally by order.
How To Get To Mong Kok
Mong Kok as one of Hong Kong’s 18 main districts is reachable by MTR, bus, minibus, and tax. The best way is to go there by MTR for first-time visitors. All you need to do is just get off at the Mong Kok Station (on the Tsuen Wan Line / Red Line) and use exit B3. This is the exit close to all the main attractions in Mong Kok.
For first-time visitors, don’t get confused with another MTR station called Mong Kok East (East Rail Line / Light Blue Line). Getting off there you will have to start at Northern Mongkok (near MOKO Mall). It is still workable but you will need to start with Bird Garden for your journey.
Walking Through Mong Kok Map
Navigating Mongkok’s labyrinth could be daunting. Even after living here for over twenty years, I have to refer to the map. But the main attractions are all in the three core streets—Fa Yuen Street, Sai Yeung Choi Street South, and Tung Choi Street—which are interconnected.
From the map above, the three streets form a loop with each street taking around 10 minutes walking from end to end. If you factor in the sightseeing, photo shooting, and shopping time you will probably spend an hour or so for each.
During my last visit to Mong Kok, I started at around 2 pm at Fa Yuen Street Market heading through the flower market, and bird garden. Then return to TOP / Argyle Center, catching the best dawn view of Fa Yuen Street Market from the skywalk. Then end my journey with a visit to Ladies Market and Sai Yueng Choi Street South.
This shall be the easiest route for all beginners and you can capture all the best things to do in MongKok.
First things first, remember to bring CASH for the visit. This is because most of the local stores in Mong Kok take cash only.
Things To Do In Mong Kok – Local Insight
The most important to-visits include the Fa Yuen Market, Flower Market, Gold Fish Market, Ladies Market, and Yuen Po Street Bird Garden. On the way of exploring these attractions, you will also dive into the street food, take pictures of graffiti in hidden alleys, and experience the gathering place of local teenages.
The best starting point is from B3 Mong Kok station from T.O.P with the first destination as Fa Yuen Street Market.
1. Start With Fa Yuen Street Market (花園街市集)
Stretching between Prince Edward Road and Dundas Street, Fa Yuen Street Market (花園街市集) this bustling market is a paradise for bargain hunters. Similar to Ladies Market, it has two rows of mobile vendors selling a variety of goods.
Direction-wise, you should head north toward Prince Edward Road or the MOKO shopping mall.
Although it also has some souvenir shops, most of the mobile vendors will be selling local gadgets like phone cases, umbrellas, etc. You will also find a several local fruit stores here selling international fruit including durian at affordable price. The pedestrian road is comparatively wider than Ladies street.
The best visiting time for the market is from 2 to 10 pm daily. The whole visit including shopping should be less than an hour.
Yet unknown to most tourists, the real hidden gem of the street is at the shops on both sides of the street. There you will find a lot of high-quality goods at unbelievably cheap prices. For example, shops are selling trendy socks for as long as 0.3 USD per pair, backpacks for less than 5 USD, and souvenir mugs for less than 2 USD.
In fact, it is even cheaper than most of the street markets you find even in developing South Asian Countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. This is quite unbelievable given Hong Kong is famous for being one of the most expensive cities in the world.
In that, make sure you don’t miss the treasury hunt also on the shops on both sides of the road.
2. Then Visit The Flower Market (Flower Market Road 花墟道)
At the intersection between Fa Yuen Street and Prince Edward Road West. You just need to turn right, heading toward Sai Yee Street and crossing the road. You will find the “Flower Market Road”. This is our next destination – The Flower Market.
PS: You will see a multiple flower shops near Prince Edward Road West even before reaching the Flower Market Road. Just follow the shops for direction.
In essence, the Flower Market refers to an alley of flower shops on Flower Market Road. Unlike the three main roads I mentioned, it is just a short road with all the flower shops on the right side. You will find plants ranging from lucky bamboo, chrysanthemums, peach blossoms, and other exotic imports from other Countries. Of course, it is also the best place to buy affordable roses for Valentine’s Day and other occasions in Hong Kong. The market usually opens in the morning until 7 pm daily.
The Mong Kok Stadium is on the left of the road. The stadium hosts several local soccer games each month. You can buy a ticket at the entrance if interested. However, I would spend time exploring more in Hong Kong given limited time.
At the end of Flower Market Road, you will reach Yuen Po Street with a visible sign of a bird market.
3. Explore The Bird Bird Market (Yue Po Street Bird Garden 園圃街雀鳥花園)
Bird Market is situated in Yuen Po Garden with a signature pavilion on both ends of the Park. Bird-keeping used to be a very popular culture in Hong Kong. However, with the modern development since the 1970s, it has lost popularity amongst the young generations. I recall there would be at least one or two bird vendors everywhere in Hong Kong during my childhood. However, you can hardly find any of them in Hong Kong nowadays other than here.
The garden opened in 1997 after the government relocated bird vendors from nearby Hong Lok Street, the garden is more than just a tourist attraction. It’s a social hub where local seasoned bird enthusiasts gather to showcase their birds and share their experience on breeding (and even blending). I am not a bird expert but I overheard from the local vendors that a well-bred bird, is considered quite an investment and would cost over 1,000 HKD (~ 130USD).
I believe most of you are not bird experts, nor consider to buy one. So the most value-adding part should be the narrow bird street in the garden. There you can take a lot of great photos of the street, the traditional bird cage and even different types of birds.
The garden is open until 8 pm daily. However, most shops would close around 6 pm even during weekends. So be sure to arrive around 5 pm or earlier for the best photos.
4. Pass By Goldfish Street (金魚街)
After the bird market, the next thing to do is to visit the Goldfish market. To reach the market, you will need to get back to the flower market, then to the intersection between Prince Edward Road West and Fa Yuen Street. From there, we will pick the Tung Choi Street with direction toward T.O.P (or Mong Kok MTR Station).
Amidst the neon-lit chaos of Mong Kok, Goldfish Market (金魚街), officially known as Tung Choi Street North, offers a mesmerizing underwater spectacle. This iconic stretch transforms into a glowing aquatic paradise at dusk, where thousands of goldfish, bettas, and turtles shimmer in plastic bags suspended like liquid lanterns.
The best time to visit the street is around 5 pm. From there you can take the best signature photo with “liquid” lanterns illuminated. As for shopping, the street is essentially another pet shop for fish. You are not likely to buy anything here as a tourist.
It takes around 20 minutes to walk, including photo time on the street. After that, you shall once again arrive at our starting point, T.O.P shopping mall.
5. Indulge The Local Young Culture: T.O.P & Argyle Center
T.O.P This Is Our Place (Aka T.O.P shopping mall) and Argyle Center are the most frequented shopping malls by the local teens in MongKok. It is athe hub for the local MK culture. Both shopping malls are connected on the third floor. Argyle Center is of longer history famous for local shops like nail-make up, apparels and other instant photo shops. Each floor of the center looks like a labyrinth of narrow stalls.
For tourists, other than shopping and experience the local culture there. Argyle Center also provides a wide variety of local eats & street food on each of the floors. In particular, you can find small-packed cold noodles on the ground floor and the cheapest local food shop on the first floor with over 100 varieties.
T.O.P on the other hand is a more modern multi-story mall. It has a food court and several apparel shops on the ground floor. On the 2nd and 3rd floor, there are several toys and anime shops. On the alley, of each floor, there are also pop-up shops selling desserts, local goods, and even fortune-tellings.
At the top of T.O.P (4th floor), there is a sky garden from there you can have a bird-eye view of Mong Kok for free.
6. Take The Signature Mong Kok Photo
By the time you finish the two malls, it should be already night time. Now it is time to get onto the Mong Kok Sky Walk and take the signature photo of Fa Yuen Market Street. The closes entrance for the bridge should be just near Argyle Center and Mong Kok Station B3 exit. The bridge sky bridge is at Mongkok Road connecting several intersections including Tung Cho Street, Fa Yuen Street, and Sai Yee Street. The endpoint of the bridge is the Mong Kok East Station and MOKO mall.
Every day after dawn, you will find locals and tourists taking photos of the Fa Yuen Street intersection on the skywalk. From there you can take the signature photo (feature photo of our post) of Fa Yuen Street market with two rows of vendors with illuminated lights on both sides.
7. Shopping At Ladies Market
The final stop of your journey in Mongkok shall be the famous Ladies Market (Tung Choi Street). It is a sprawling open-air bazaar that embodies Hong Kong’s vibrant street culture. Stretching over a kilometer from Mongkok to Yau Ma Tei, it used to be selling mainly women’s fashions in the 1980s.
Nowadays, the product variety has already expanded to almost everything you can name in a typical street market. There are over 100 stalls unfurl like a carnival of commerce, hawking everything from HK$50 graphic tees and counterfeit designer bags (wink) to quirky phone cases, anime merch, and glittering jewelry.
I went there earlier this year and checked the price and it is surprisingly cheap. For example, a very high-quality magnet featuring Hong Kong only costs you less than 1.5 USD. This is exceptionally cheap compared to the over 100 destinations I have been to around the world.
Although it is not as large as the Chatuchak market in Bangkok, you will definitely find more best-valued goods here. Not to mention you don’t need to navigate a map like the one in Bangkok to shop at Ladies Street.
8. Taste The Street Food While Sightseeing
Apart from all the sightseeing, photo-shooting, and shopping attractions, Mongkok is also probably the only district in Hong Kong that can offer you ALL available street food in Hong Kong.
Earlier, we already told you that the Argyle Center offers you great options of street food on each floor. On the side of the three main tourist streets “Fa Yuen Street”, “Tung Choi Street” and “Sai Yeung Choi Street” you will find a lot of street food vendors. There not only you will find common HK street food like fish balls, egg bubble waffles, siu mai, and tofu pudding, but some rare options like stinky tofu, fried pork intestines, and fish strip lettuce soup are available.
9. Have A Meal At Cha Chaan Teng Or Local Noodle Shops
While there are many restaurants in Mong Kok offering Chinese, local and international food. The best options for your half-day visit would be either local Cha Chaan Teng or noodle shops for a quick bite.
First, you don’t want to make yourself full and miss all the tasty street food. Second, you will need a place to take a break in between the visitings. For that having an afternoon tea with a Pineapple bun at Cha Chaan Teng or a small bowl of noodles from a local shop is the best option.
10. Final Visit To Sai Yeung Choi Street
Sai Yeung Choi Street is just near the Ladies’ market street. Same as the Ladies’ market it is the street connecting MongKok and Yau Ma Tei. There are many shops on both sides of the street but most of them are international brands or local pharmacies. For example, there is a new Russian grocery shop opened there in 2025 during my last visit.
The street used to be filled with street performers and very crowded even during weekdays. However, nowadays you can barely see any live performances there after COVID-19 time in Hong Kong. Despite being less popular, it is still a good spot for photos and you will find the famous Hong Kong Fu Hao ice cream truck there.
That’s why I recommend this as the last thing to do in Mongkok while you are heading to Mong Kok or Yau Ma Tei MTR station to end your day.
Final Tips For Things To Do In Mong Kok
Living in Hong Kong for over 20 years, Mong Kok of course has a lot to offer. These 10 things are my top recommendation for you to spend a good half or 1 day in Hong Kong. After all, there are lots of good attractions in Hong Kong such as hiking trails or outlying islands like Cheung Chau worth you spending time on.
In that, I would recommend you budget half day for Mong Kok. The ideal route would be spending your morning and early afternoon in Old Central. Then start your Mongkok journey around 2 pm. This is because a lot of Mongkok icons are best at ar 4 – 6 pm.
Also by doing so, you could leave one or two extra days for theme parks like HK Ocean Park or HK Disney. Feel free to leave me any comment for Mong Kok.
Last but not least, remember cash is the only means of payment in lots of local shops in Mong Kok.
Happy to answer from a local world traveler’s point of view.
