Mong Kok | |||||||||||||||||||
Sai Yeung Choi Street South in Mong Kok
|
|||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Literal meaning | flourishing/busy corner | ||||||||||||||||||
|
Transcriptions | |
---|---|
Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Wàngjiǎo |
Wade–Giles | wang4 chiao3 |
Hakka | |
Romanization | vong4 gok5 |
Yue: Cantonese | |
IPA | [wɔ̀ːŋ kɔ̄ːk] |
Jyutping | Wong6 Gok3 |
Mong Kok (also spelled Mongkok, often abbreviated as MK) is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District, on the western part of Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong. The Prince Edward area occupies the northern part of Mong Kok.
Mong Kok is one of the major shopping areas in Hong Kong. The area is characterized by a mixture of old and new multi-story buildings, with shops and restaurants at street level, and commercial or residential units above. Major industries in Mong Kok are retail, restaurants (including fast food) and entertainment. It has been described and portrayed in films as an area in which triads run bars, nightclubs, and massage parlors. With its extremely high population density of 130,000/km2 or 340,000 per square mile, Mong Kok was described as the busiest district in the world by the Guinness World Records.
Until 1930, the area was called Mong Kok Tsui (芒角嘴). The current English name is a transliteration of its older Chinese name 望角 (Jyutping: mong6 gok3; IPA: [mɔːŋ˨ kɔːk˧]), or 芒角 (Jyutping: mong4 gok3; IPA: [mɔːŋ˨˩ kɔːk˧]), which is named for its plentiful supply of ferns in the past when it was a coastal region. Its present Chinese name "旺角" (Jyutping: wong6 gok3; IPA: [wɔːŋ˨ kɔːk˧]), means "prosperous corner" or "crowded corner."