Hong Kong's Flower Market, which serves both wholesale and retail customers, stretches the equivalent of two or three blocks along one side of a street of the same name between Sai Yee and Yuen Po Streets not far from the Prince Edward Street station of the MTR. (Follow the same directions I've given for a visit to the adjacent Yuen Po Bird Garden on another page.) The little street is ablaze with color and crowded with customers much of the time.

The variety of flowers available is mind-boggling and range from the usual roses, babies' breath, and chrysanthemums to the bizarre, e.g., cabbage flowers, China fruit, and Venus Flytraps. There are cacti from the American Southwest, Hawaiian orchids, and Dutch tulips. You'll also find dozens of varieties you've probably never even seen before. Clearly, walking through the market is a delight. You'll find little old ladies arguing over the price of a single rose, elegantly-clad Yuppies buying armloads of orchids, and retailers taking possession of whole truckloads of blossoms.

Something we had never seen on offer anywhere before were flowers that had been "doctored." One merchant was selling blue roses, almost certainly white roses that had been placed in pots of blue dye. Another trick Hong Kong florists use is to apply glitter to the edges of flower petals. This seemed to be a popular treatment for cabbage blossoms for some odd reason. One extraordinary rose we came across was a deep, deep, velvety red with flecks of yellow, rather like the blooms had been splattered by a particularly careless housepainter.

Obviously, for photographers, the Flower Market is a real treat. People are intent enough on their own flower shopping that they really don't notice you shooting. Be aware of a problem, however: the stalls and small shops are often lit with fluorescent or sodium vapor lamps, which is mixed with daylight streaming in from outside, producing rather perplexing lighting problems. The best attack is probably bounced flash inside shops, though I managed -- just -- with the built-in flash unit on my little digital.