Temple Street Night Market

The street takes its name from the Tin Hau temple in Yau Ma Tei, honouring the sea goddess revered by the fishing communities who once lived around the bay here. According to the market's own history page, a small shrine was founded in 1865 and the temple moved to its present site in 1876 after reclamation changed the shoreline.

Hawkers were trading near the temple by the 1920s, and as the district urbanised the vendors moved onto Temple Street itself. The market's history page records that a licensing system in 1975 allocated hundreds of marked pitches to stall holders, and that from 1998 vendors could set up from 2pm when the street became a part-time pedestrian area. In the 1950s to 1970s the market was also a stage for street singers, a scene linked with the early careers of Cantopop performers.

In December 2023 the Hong Kong Tourism Board and local merchants launched a revamp with food stalls near the Jordan Road archway, illuminated art installations and new signage.

Temple Street is a working market rather than a heritage show. Many stall holders have traded here for years, and locals still come for cheap household goods, late-night dining and the social bustle of the dai pai dongs. Fortune telling and Cantonese opera reflect long-standing folk traditions in this part of Kowloon, and the street remains closely tied to the Tin Hau Temple that gave it its name.