Hawkers in Hong Kong

Hawkers in Hong Kong (Chinese: 小販) are vendors of street food and inexpensive goods. They are found in urban areas and new towns alike, although certain districts such as Mong Kok, Sham Shui Po, and Kwun Tong are known for high concentrations of hawkers.

For many decades, hawking has served as a means for the lower class to make a living in Hong Kong, and allowed patrons to benefit from the convenience and low cost of hawker goods. However, the government has long considered the practice to be detrimental to public hygiene, and it has therefore been controlled by the Urban Council and its successor, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.

Hawkers may be divided into the categories of fixed-pitch and itinerant (travelling). Both categories may sell a variety of goods, including food or dry goods. Street food hawkers commonly sell foods such as fishballs and fake shark fin soup (碗仔翅) relatively cheaply, from roadside vendor stalls.

The Hong Kong government has attempted to reduce the number of illegal vendors by designating hawker-permitted areas, but a large percentage of street vendors still operate illegally. According to Leung Yin Ling, author of the book 消失中的小販文化 (Disappearing Hawker Culture), hawkers exemplify the spirit of determination in the face of adversity that is an indelible part of Hong Kong culture. Local scholar Ma Kwok Ming has claimed that the economy of Hong Kong relies to a large extent on the street food industry, and that if hawkers are too harshly regulated, there will be little room for the development of Hong Kong food culture.

The Cantonese phrase jau gwei (Chinese: 走鬼; Jyutping: zau2 gwai2; lit. running [away from] ghosts) refers to the sudden abandonment of these stalls when Hawker Control Teams (Chinese: 小販管理隊, or 販管隊 in short) are imminent and the vendors are operating illegally or selling prohibited items, such as counterfeit branded goods. Gwei, meaning ghosts, refers to the Hawker Control Officers, who were traditionally Westerners. The phrase is shouted by vendors to warn others of the approaching squads, and can also be heard in Macao and Guangdong Province, where similar situations exist with illegal street vendors.

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