Yau Tsim Mong District

Being Neighbourly visits the core area of Kowloon and finds architecture, old and new, street markets and plenty of food.

Author/ Being Neighbourly
13 May 2026

Yau Tsim Mong is the core urban area of Kowloon. Formerly two districts, Yau Tsim District and Mong Kok District were combined in 1994. As its name suggests, Yau Tsim Mong is home to Yau Ma Tei, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok. It contains such well-known thoroughfares as Nathan Road, Shanghai Street, Austin, Salisbury and Canton roads and is the location of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, West Kowloon Highway and Western Harbour Crossing. The prestigious Diocesan Girls’ School and Hong Kong Polytechnic University are located there.

Land Area
6.99 km²

Population*
310,647

*2021 figures

Biggest Neighbourhood
Tai Kok Tsui

Mong Kok

Mong Kok is a bustling neighbourhood on Kowloon’s Nathan Road, known for its dense, lively street life, markets, and youth culture. It sits just north of Prince Edward and south of Yau Ma Tei. Visitors and locals alike flock to the neighbourhood for its markets and street vibe (Ladies’ Market (fashion and souvenirs), Sneakers Street (athletic footwear), and many stalls selling accessories, gadgets and everyday goods. Mong Kok is also home to specialty lanes and markets: Goldfish Market (pet fish and aquarium supplies) and Flower Market (nearby) for a sensory stroll. The neighbourhood is also feted for its food scene: a mixture of dai pai dong-style stalls, cha chaan teng (Hong Kong diners). After hours, you can expect an exciting amalgamation of neon signs, crowded sidewalks and late-night shopping and snacking.

Yau Ma Tei

By historical accounts, Yau Ma Tei, before the ceding of Kowloon to the British in 1860, was a beach and a bay, gathering many Tanka fishermen. The Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter was comprised of several restaurants on boats offering seafood dishes. Sadly, though this is no more, history lives on in historical buildings such as Tin Hau Temple, the old Yau Ma Tei Police Station and the Yau Ma Tei Theatre.

Jordan

Jordan is named after a road of the same name in the district: Jordan Road. Like most of southern Kowloon, the neighbourhood is entirely urbanised, other than a few small parks.

Like the nearby neighbourhoods of Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui, large sections of Jordan host a mix of older residential high-rises, office buildings, street markets, hotels, eateries and every imaginable small shop. Although it lacks the sights and comforts of other neighbourhoods, it still attracts a small number of adventurous tourists looking for a glimpse of authentic, working-class Hong Kong and boasts a number of Indians, Pakistanis, Nepalese, and other ethnic minorities, resulting in a wide variety of South Asian and other restaurants and market stores.

Tsim Sha Tsui

Tsim Sha Tsui is at the southernmost tip of Kowloon peninsula facing Hong Kong Island. It’s a major tourist hub in Hong Kong, with many high-end shops, bars, pubs and restaurants that cater to tourists, not to mention Hong Kong’s grand dame hotel, The Peninsula and other starry accommodations such as the Regent, the Four Seasons and the Rosewood. Many of Hong Kong’s museums such as the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Space Museum and the Cultural Centre are there with both the MTR and the city’s iconic Star Ferry (in operation since 1888) offering transport from Hong Kong Island.

Tsim Sha Tsui is one of the main shopping areas in Hong Kong. Shopping malls in the area include: 1881 Heritage, Ocean Terminal and Harbour City, China Hong Kong City, iSQUARE, K11 Art Mall and K11 MUSEA. Tsim Sha Tsui is also home to Kowloon Park, a popular destination with swimming pools, an aviary, a children’s playground, kung fu corner, sculpture garden and the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre.

Prince Edward

Originally, the area around Prince Edward was known as Tong Mi. But after a visit from Edward VIII, then the Prince of Wales, the road was named after him and later adopted for the wider area. Visitors to Flower Market Road, Goldfish Street or Goldfish Market, Yuen Po Street Bird Garden and Ladies’ Street may alight at Prince Edward MTR station, rather than Mong Kok.

Tai Kok Tsui

Tai Kok Tsui is to the west of Mong Kok. Before any reclamation, Tai Kok Tsui was a long island of granite linked by an isthmus (a narrow strip of land with water on both sides that connects to two larger landmasses) at its north to Kowloon Peninsula. The area was mainly for dock facilities as reflected in present-day Anchor Street. The Cosmopolitan Dock, extant till the 1960s which is now Cosmopolitan Estate.

King’s Park

The northern area of King’s Park is hilly, while the south is relatively flat. The hill north hosts a meteorological station of the Hong Kong Observatory, the Blood Transfusion Centre of Hong Kong Red Cross and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

East Tsim Sha Tsui

East Tsim Sha Tsui or Tsim Sha Tsui East is an area east of Chatham Road South reclaimed from Hung Hom Bay in the 1970s.

Stay posted for our Yau Tsim Mong insider guides coming soon.

Peter Sung is a talented photographer who was born in Hong Kong. When he’s not in the territory, Sung is travelling for work in the Mainland and beyond. His stunning colour and black and white photographs have been recognized by National Geographic and in November 2024, he was awarded the recipient of the inaugural ‘Being Neighbourly Creativity Award 2024’.