Hong Kong is trying to awaken its nightlife after 3-year Covid slumber
As Xie Yunyan sat on the bench by the seaside, enjoying the breeze and various snacks she bought at the Wan Chai bazaars, the 20-year-old girl felt an immense sense of happiness at this Mid-Autumn Festival night.
“I’ve always hoped that Hong Kong could have a night market like mainland China,” said Xie.
“There were still many people walking around just like me even at 11:30 pm.”
“I’ve always hoped that Hong Kong could have a night market like mainland China.” ——Xie Yunyan
Amid the faltering post-pandemic recovery this year, the Hong Kong government has launched the “Night Vibes Hong Kong” campaign since this September, in a bid to stimulate weak consumption and the slowing evening economy.
A recent survey conducted by Bloomberg among economists indicates a downward revision in Hong Kong’s GDP growth for this year. It estimates only a 4 percent expansion, lower than the earlier median projection of 4.6 percent.
“The whole intention and purpose of this Night Vibes Hong Kong programme is to develop a new culture for people to enjoy their night activities more,” said Chief Executive John Lee.
According to the statistics collected from Google Map and Gaode Map, most international trendy brand stores in Hong Kong’s malls close earlier than Shenzhen’s, although the closing time of shopping malls in Hong Kong and Shenzhen are generally similar.
“I thought Hong Kong was a city that never sleeps, but I didn’t expect that most shops in malls would close at around 9 pm,” said Wang Fengyu, 49, who travelled to Hong Kong from Taiyuan, the capital city of Shanxi province in July.
“Even in Taiyuan, a place that is much less developed than Hong Kong, shopping malls stay open until 10:30 pm.”
Apart from three harbourfront night bazaars, this night programme also encourages shopping malls, amusement parks and MTR to roll out various evening activities to attract more customers, including extending operating hours and offering special deals, etc.
“We have already achieved the expected results in the first six days,” said Lee.
He explained that the new opening night bazaars in Wan Chai, Kwun Tong and Kennedy Town drew a large crowd of around 100,000 people over this three-day holiday, resulting in a fivefold increase in stall sales.
Lee further pointed out that various malls saw business growth of 20-30% after their evening promotions during this period.
Nonetheless, for Lin Lin, a trinket hawker at Tung Choi Street in Mong Kok, her business is yet to fully recover from the COVID-19 shock.
“I now start setting up my booth at noon and pack up around 9:30 pm,” said the 50-year-old woman, “but I used to stay here later before the pandemic.”
Lin noted that things have already improved significantly now, as her booth only opened for two hours per day during the pandemic period.
The Tung Choi Street where Lin is located is known as a popular shopping destination among both local Hong Kongers and visitors, usually operating during the afternoon and evening hours.
“It’s not only an issue of much less foot traffic, but sales volume has also decreased. Now, many people just look around without actually making purchases.”
“The pandemic has really worsened people’s financial conditions,” Lin added.
A salesperson at a footwear store on Mong Kok’s Fa Yuen Street (well known as sneaker street), who wants to be anonymous, also pointed out that they close the store at 9 pm currently, while before Covid they would stay open until 11 pm at night.
“Despite the lifted Covid restrictions, we still don’t have many customers in the evening,” said she.
“After the three-year pandemic, people may get used to not going out at night.”
“After the three-year pandemic, people may get used to not going out at night.” ——Lin Lin
According tothe Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, the total value of retail sales for this August was HK$32.4 billion, with a year-on-year increase of 13.7%. However, this mild recovery was still not enough to bring the retail industry to the pre-pandemic level.
At the Wan Chai bazaars, Xie saw lots of colourful toys glittering around the booth to draw people’s attention, including balloons, lanterns, yo-yos and so on. Among these the most popular were still those food stalls.
“The food prices were a bit high,” said Xie, who had spent approximately HK$200 in total on her food.
“People come to the night market mainly to eat various foods,” Xie pointed out.
“If the food portion size could be smaller and the prices could be lower than HK$40, I guess the Hong Kong night market would be more attractive.”