Hong Kong Street Nicknames with Jyutping Audio

Asking directions in Hong Kong is not a matter of reading the street sign in Cantonese. Locals say 女人街. The map says 通菜街. One road can carry two nicknames, north and south. Mandarin speakers miss both: they have never heard the nickname, and they misread the transliterated official name from the characters.

Each line below has Jyutping playback. Listen first. Then lock which word is on the sign and which word is in the mouth.

Learn the pairing first

Nicknames are for speech. Official names are for maps, apps, and taxis. Match this table first, then drill the entries.

金魚街 and 女人街 share one official name. The difference is the stretch.

Mong Kok and Prince Edward

1. 女人街 (neoi5 jan2 gaai1)

Meaning: Ladies’ Market—the open-air stretch of Tung Choi Street.

The government places this stretch between Argyle Street and Dundas Street. Early stalls sold women’s clothes; the nickname stuck. Do not call the whole of Tung Choi Street 女人街. Further north, Mong Kok Road to Nullah Road is 金魚街 in speech.

2. 金魚街 (gam1 jyu4 gaai1)

Meaning: Goldfish Street—the northern stretch of Tung Choi Street, goldfish and aquarium shops.

The official name is still 通菜街, from Mong Kok Road to Nullah Road, near Prince Edward Road West. Same road as Ladies’ Market, two spoken names. 魚 is jyu4; dropping the initial is a lazy-sound slide.

3. 西洋菜南街 (sai1 joeng4 coi3 naam4 gaai1)

Meaning: Sai Yeung Choi Street South. Official name, not a nickname. Named after old watercress fields.

Gazetted in 1924 as Sai Yeung Choi Street. Later split at Mong Kok Police Station into South and North. The south street runs from Dundas Street to Prince Edward Road West. People also shorten it to 菜街. 通菜 is water spinach; 西洋菜 is watercress. Two parallel streets, both real field names.

4. 波鞋街 (bo1 haai4 gaai1)

Meaning: Sneaker Street—the sports-shoe stretch of Fa Yuen Street. 波鞋 means trainers.

Mainly Fa Yuen Street between Dundas Street and Argyle Street; Sai Yee Street next door also has sports shops. 波 is bo1. 鞋 is haai4.

5. 花墟 (faa1 heoi1)

Meaning: The Flower Market around Prince Edward—not a single door number.

Shops run along Flower Market Road, Yuen Po Street, Yuen Ngai Street, and nearby Prince Edward Road West. In Cantonese a 墟 is a market that fills, then empties. The flower 墟 came first; Flower Market Road was named after it. Say 花墟. Look up 花墟道 on the map.

6. 雀仔街 (zoek3 zai2 gaai1)

Meaning: Bird Street. The original street is gone; the spoken name remains.

The old site was Hong Lok Street in Mong Kok, permanently closed in 1998 for redevelopment. The government built Yuen Po Street Bird Garden at Prince Edward to rehouse the stalls; it opened in 1997. Saying 雀仔街 now usually means that garden, not a rename of the whole of Yuen Po Street. 雀 is entering tone: zoek3.

Other districts

7. 廟街 (miu2 gaai1)

Meaning: Temple Street night market in Yau Ma Tei. The sign already says 廟街.

Named after the Tin Hau temple. The sign already says 廟街, and so does speech. Isolated 廟 is often miu6; in 廟街 it is miu2.

8. 鴨寮街 (aap3 liu4 gaai1)

Meaning: Apliu Street in Sham Shui Po—electronics and parts. The sign already says 鴨寮街.

Gazetted in 1927. Duck sheds stood here before reclamation. Speech now points at electronics and parts, including second-hand goods—not ducks. 鴨 is entering tone: aap3.

9. 石板街 (sek6 baan2 gaai1)

Meaning: Nickname for Pottinger Street in Central, from the ridged granite slabs.

The Antiquities and Monuments Office writes 砵典乍街（石板街）, after the first governor. The steep stretch from Queen’s Road Central to Hollywood Road is the one people mean. Say 石板街. The sign is 砵典乍. 砵 is entering tone: but3.

10. 摩羅街 (mo1 lo4 gaai1)

Meaning: Antiques and old goods in Sheung Wan. Tourist English often says Cat Street.

Spoken 摩羅街 usually means Upper Lascar Row; Lower Lascar Row sits beside it. The official name is 摩羅上街, English Upper Lascar Row. Tourists also say Cat Street.

11. 囍帖街 (hei2 tip2 gaai1)

Meaning: Old nickname for Lee Tung Street in Wan Chai, from the wedding-card printers.

Lee Tung Street ran between Johnston Road and Queen’s Road East. The old tenement street was demolished and permanently closed in 2010. The site is now a mall promenade that still uses the name 利東街. People still say 囍帖街. Isolated 帖 is tip3; in 囍帖街 it is tip2.

Transliterated official names

These Chinese names transcribe English street names. Guessing from Mandarin initials gets the reading wrong.

12. 彌敦道 (nei4 deon1 dou6)

Meaning: Nathan Road. Named after the 13th governor, Sir Matthew Nathan.

彌 is nei4, not Mandarin mi. The Kowloon spine: Salisbury Road in Tsim Sha Tsui north to Boundary Street.

13. 軒尼詩道 (hin1 nei4 si1 dou6)

Meaning: Hennessy Road. Named after the 8th governor, Sir John Pope Hennessy.

Wan Chai into Causeway Bay. 軒 hin1, 尼 nei4, 詩 si1. Do not borrow Mandarin tones for 轩尼诗.

14. 亞皆老街 (aa3 gaai1 lou5 gaai1)

Meaning: Argyle Street. A phonetic rendering of Argyle.

It cuts across Mong Kok. The north edge of Ladies’ Market and Sneaker Street sits on it. 皆 is gaai1; 老 is lou5. Mandarin ya jie lao matches none of the three syllables.

15. 登打士街 (dang1 daa2 si6 gaai1)

Meaning: Dundas Street. A phonetic rendering of Dundas.

The south edge of Ladies’ Market and Sneaker Street. 登 is dang1, not deng. 打 is daa2.

16. 荷李活道 (ho4 lei5 wut6 dou6)

Meaning: Hollywood Road. The Chinese is a transliteration, not Los Angeles.

Central to Sheung Wan; among the first streets after the founding of the colony. 荷 is ho4, not the ho6 of 負荷. 活 is entering tone: wut6. Same cluster as Stone Slabs Street and Cat Street.

Shadow the names together

Drill the two layers apart: nicknames first, official names next, then the transliterated trunk roads.

What these names train

FAQ

Is Ladies’ Market the whole of Tung Choi Street?
No. The government places it between Argyle Street and Dundas Street. Mong Kok Road to Nullah Road is 金魚街 in speech.

Is Bird Street the same as Yuen Po Street?
No. That is not a rename of the whole street. Hong Lok Street was demolished. Saying 雀仔街 now usually means Yuen Po Street Bird Garden.

Nickname or official name when I ask the way?
Taxis, maps, and apps want the official name. Already on a Mong Kok kerb, 女人街 and 波鞋街 are understood. You need both.

Is there a Ladies’ Market in Causeway Bay too?
Jardine’s Crescent (渣甸坊) is also called 女人街. Default Hong Kong speech still means the Mong Kok stretch of Tung Choi Street. This page trains Mong Kok.

What next?
Once the street name is stable, the stall still needs an order—try street snacks. Or annotate your own route with the Jyutping converter.