iSurprise Tai Yuen Street

Experience the everyday life of residents in the narrow row of paidongs

Childhood memories

Welcome to Wan Chai’s oldest market street. Walking down Tai Yuen Street, immerse yourself in the colourful variety of market goods, anything from clothes and shoes to medicine and plants and naturally … toys.

A trip down memory lane…

In the 50s to 70s this was Hong Kong’s prime toys wholesale market, packed with plastic dolls, games and Christmas decorations ready to be shipped around the world. In those days, Hong Kong was famous for its high-quality manufacturing and Tai Yuen street was THE place to go: a fairy wonderland for every Hong Kong child… until the 1980s when most factories moved to Mainland China. Todays, you can still find traces of the past in the few surviving toy stores.

In my childhood coming here was like a treasure hunt. Even now it is a great place to find Japanese animes, old toys and vintage stuff.
— former resident
Opens in a new window