Tung Choi - in Hong Kong

[Wahter]

This was a nice article about Tung Choi street in Hong Kong's Mongkok district (where the aquarium shops are):

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/travel/Norfolk_Hong%20Kong.html

[Francisco_Borrero]

Thank you Wahter. That was interesting.
An article including some of the same photos, but not all and not as extensive, was published last year in mne of the trade magazines (FAMA ??). Cool stuff.
It amazes me how they have fish pre-bagged, hanging from stands, ready to sell. They do that in my country too (Colombia), and I saw the same in Panama, in small mobile stands on the sidewalks of downtown areas. Somehow the fish appear fairly healthy.

Cheers, Francisco.

[David_Hui]

Interesting aritcle. I remembered waking up at 6:00 am and went to train station to buy fish in the late 70's. We could buy them at wholesale. But, they did not sell discus though.

David

[Jeff]

Interesting article Whater. 8)

[Wahter]

When I visited Hong Kong in 2000, I noticed some of the shops did indeed have small pigeon blood discus in a bag - they usually also stick in a piece of plant (like hornwort) inside the bag with the fish (probably to take in any nitrites). Most of the fish in the bags are community tank fish, clown loaches, etc... I did see a small black ghost in bag too. Definitely didn't seen any asian arowanas bagged and that time was before the "flowerhorn" craze happened.

Last November, when I visited Taipei, Taiwan, I noticed they didn't do the 'fish in the bag on the rack at the door of the store' there - they did have some hardware for sale outside the store fronts though - like the ways Border's Books sells some of their extra books.

[allan_mark76]

Cool info. Now the problem is actually going. :o

A-

[Wahter]

Here are some pics I took from my trip - this was in 2000, so it's "pre-luo han/ pre-flower horn". :) :) :)

Lots of nice Asian arowanas though and many shops had discus of all sizes and strains.

You can see the shop signs stick right out over the sidewalks and racks of bagged fish and plants.

[Wahter]

another photo - Hong Kong is very crowded and you can see the shop signs even extend over Tung Choi (the name of the street). If you look in the back, you can even see someone's laundry hanging!

[Wahter]

Usually the shops don't let you take photos, but I did get permission from this shop. They were the only "Amano" dealer in the area. I took a photo of one of their display tanks (lots of riccia inside) - unfortunately, there's a whitish line going through the tank; that's the reflection.

As usual, they have the bags of fish hanging on a rack at the entrance of the shop.

[Wahter]

Last but not least. This is especially for Jeff! ;D Here's a map of the Mong Kok area! You'll want to take the subway (known as the "MTR" <-- even non-English speaking residents understand that! ;) ) to the "Prince Edward Station" in Mong Kok. Then walk over 2 blocks to get onto Tung Choi Street and you're there. On this map, it's marked as the "Goldfish Market" but that's only one end of the aquarium shop neighborhood.

Cathay Pacific airlines has an "Asia Pass"; you pay one price and you can fly to several Asian countries (using Hong Kong as a hub). I tried this last year, but the flights from Singapore to Hong Kong were all booked by the time I tried to buy the tickets. (just another stumbling block on my multiple attempts to get to Singapore! GRRRR :furious: ).

HTH,


Walter

[Willie]

I was able to visit the fish district in Beijing, which consist of a large, sprawling building with 20+ fish stores inside. There were no bags of fish on display, like in Hong Kong. I got 4 perfect looking Red Melons for $30@. The stored packed the fish for me and I got them as far as Chicago. Somewhere between Chicago and Minneapolis, United Airlines decided that the box was leaking and threw it away. :( >:( :( >:( :(

Willie

[Wahter]

Willie, sorry to hear about that - are you going to try again?

[Jeff]

Thanks Walter. ;D