Fruit Market
Encyclopedia
Fruit Market also known as Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market (油麻地果欄) and Yau Ma Tei Wholesale Fruit Market, is a wholesale fruit market in Yau Ma Tei
Yau Ma Tei
Yau Ma Tei, also known as Waterloo , is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District in the south of the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong.-Name:Yau Ma Tei is a phonetic transliteration of the name 油麻地 in Cantonese...

, Kowloon
Kowloon
Kowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of...

, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

.

It is known as gwo laan (果欄) in Cantonese. gwo (果) means fruit while laan (欄) means wholesale market, derived from railing and enclosed area.

History

The market was founded in 1913 between Ferry Street, Waterloo Road and Reclamation Street
Reclamation Street
Reclamation Street is a street stretching from Jordan to Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. As its name suggests, it was built on the reclaimed western shore of the Kowloon Peninsula.-Location:Reclamation Street runs mostly parallel and west to Nathan Road...

 with Shek Lung Street passing through it. The name of the market was originally Government Vegetables Market (政府蔬菜市場) which sold fruit and vegetables. Fish traders joined in the 1930s. With the opening of Cheung Sha Wan Vegetables Wholesaling Market (長沙灣蔬菜批發市場) and Cheung Sha Wan Fishery Wholesaling Market (長沙灣魚類批發市場) in Cheung Sha Wan
Cheung Sha Wan
Cheung Sha Wan is an area between Lai Chi Kok and Sham Shui Po in New Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is mainly residential to the north and south, with an industrial area in between. Administratively it is part of Sham Shui Po District. The Sham Shui Po District includes Mei Foo as well as Lai Chi...

 in 1965, the vegetables and fish stalls moved out. From then on the market has operated as a specialist fruit wholesaling market. The market was then officially known as Kowloon Wholesale Fruit Market until the name was transferred to Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Market Complex in 1990.

Features

The market is a historically valuable site and is classified as a Grade III Historic Building. since 1990. It consists of several blocks of one or two storey brick and stone buildings. Pre-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 signboards are on the outer walls of the buildings.

Another historical building, Yaumati Theatre
Yaumati Theatre
Yaumati Theatre , once the largest theatre in Kowloon, is located at the junction of Waterloo Road and Reclamation Street, in Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong. It is classified as "Grade II Historic Building" The abandoned building is the only remaining pre-World War II theatre in Kowloon. It is to be...

is adjacent to the market, across Reclamation Street.

Market operation

Many wholesalers still operate in the market. The busiest hours are 4 to 6 o'clock in the morning. Lorries and carts deliver boxes of fruit in and out of the market.

External links

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