words rachel mok

Early birds get the pick of the bunch at the fruit market.

If you are warned against venturing into the area between Ferry Street, Waterloo Road and Reclamation Street after midnight, it is not because of the triad activities Hong Kong movies would have us be so terrified about. It is more because the area – officially the Kowloon Wholesale Fruit Market, or Yau Ma Tei Wholesale Fruit Market as most people know it – is so crammed with trucks loading and off-loading fresh fruit and labourers packing, unpacking and transporting mountainous piles of boxes. Minibuses and taxis have to navigate inch by inch and pedestrians tread carefully around great stacks of whatever seasonal fruits are popular at the time.

Built in 1913, Yau Ma Tei Wholesale Fruit Market is known as Guo Lan among the locals, with ‘guo’ meaning ‘fruit’ and ‘lan’ referring to ‘fences’ in Cantonese. Conveniently located closed to the pier, it was once also a market for poultry and vegetables. When the government decided to move the chicken and pak-choi to Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Food Market in 1965, the Yau Ma Tei site became solely dedicated to wholesale fruit. According to the Kowloon Fruit and Vegetable Merchants Association, there are now 230 to 240 stalls trading here and the livelihoods of approximately 3,000 people depend on the market. Many of the market’s stall owners have been in the industry for their entire lives. Mr Leung is one of them.

“You have to keep oranges at around 60 to 70°F,” he says as he points at the sign on a box of Sunkist oranges. “For bananas it is 68-71°F. Grapes and apples… I don’t know the number in Fahrenheit, but it is 1°C.” It should be no surprise that he can spit the whole list out as he would watermelon pips, for he has been working in the industry since 1964, the year the Beatles visited Hong Kong for the first time. “I started doing everything from cleaning the floor up,” says the 60-year-old man. “And I took over this ‘lan’ (the stall) about 10 years ago when my boss retired.”

I am visiting the fruit market at 5am, which is supposed to be the busiest time of the night. But Mr Leung says market time is quite flexible. Usually he starts work at 1am, but he may start as early as midnight or as late as 2am depending on the workload. “The fruit usually arrives here around 9 o’clock, and the retailers have ordered the stock from us already.” He usually deals with regular customers only. “So they will arrange trucks to pick up the stuff and we are busy carrying and loading.” The period between 4am and 6am is the busiest, though the stall owners don’t get off until 10am after stocktaking is finished.

But the job isn’t quite that simple. As we are talking, a man, sweating through his red vest, butts in, takes a look at the boxes of oranges shipped in from the US and asks how much they are. At first the two cannot agree on a price. “It must be $105 [per box],” demands the prospective buyer. “They come in at $120!” Mr Leung is indignant. Seems bargaining is an important part of the day. “Come on, I guarantee you will make a profit or I will pay you back,” cajoles Mr Leung. They end up agreeing on $110 per box, $5 of which is the cost of the paper container. Now I don’t get it. Mr Leung is already losing money if the stock really came in at $120 per box and, on top of that, to guarantee his customer’s profits? “Well, this is the way we talk business,” he smiles. “Did you tape it?”

“We make our profit by earning commission,” says the middleman between the fruit importers and the retailers. “I earn about $3 to $5 per box and I sell about 300 to 400 boxes per day.” His stall, Sun Yue (New Moon, or Universal Products in the past), normally deals with fruit from the US and Taiwan instead of those from China. “Usually the fruit arrives by ship, but sometimes it arrives by aeroplane when the demand is really high.” He cites cherries as an example – they quickly rot and so are flown into the SAR if importers want to ensure they arrive in top condition.

As businessmen in all trades do, Mr Leung complains things are more difficult than previously. Supermarket chains are a big headache. “They have air-conditioning in summer so people go there,” he says. “But you read in the news, [the supermarkets] are actually much more expensive than other places! Probably they have one thing cheaper than us, but earn money by charging a higher price for 10 other things!” But even if there was no competition, the century-old market would still be facing its end.

Built before the Second World War, the market is classified as a Grade III historical building by the Antiquities and Monuments Office. However it is set to be pulled down – in fact its destruction was mooted some 30 years ago. The plan is that the market will be relocated to phase two of the Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Food Market Complex, but it never quite works out. Although complaints from residents are often made about the noise in the early morning, Mr Leung says that is not the main concern of the authorities. “Of course the government wants this land, it is an ace location here!” he says. “We have not moved yet because the government cannot afford to compensate us.” Another Langham Place may not be wanted in the area, but that is where the money is – in the meantime Mr Leung says a lot of his associates share his thoughts: they don’t want to move, mostly because it will cost them huge sums to re-install everything, especially the cold-storage warehouse.

If the relocation plan is confirmed, Leung may retire. But he doesn’t want to make that choice. “After one retires, one only waits for three things,” he chuckles. “Eat, sleep and die.” I see quite a lot of young men working here, so I suggest maybe his children can take over and continue his business. “Definitely not! I will not let them enter this business even if they want to.” He is adamant. “It’s too much hard work, not much income. I don’t see a bright future in this.” It is time for me to go. No one has threatened or even stared at a complete stranger wandering the area with a camera at five in the morning. For those of you who like early morning adventures, I’d say this area is pretty safe!