It was about 8pm on a recent balmy evening and lone guitarist Tomii Chan Wai-yan was plucking his strings for the few passers-by who paused on their nightly stroll to listen to his performance. But most threw him no more than a glance or two before moving on.
This apparent lack of an audience, however, did not seem to bother the 19-year-old digital music and media student who had intentionally left the bustling Sai Yeung Choi Street in Mong Kok for this quiet spot on the Kwun Tong Promenade.
He is not alone. Joseph and Zoe von Hess of Head Clowns have also abandoned the heavy human traffic of Causeway Bay for smaller crowds in more remote corners in Central and Tsim Sha Tsui.
'Some people say [Mong Kok] is a real Mecca for busking. I don't think it is really,' said the Welsh musician, who started busking with his wife on Sai Yeung Choi Street three months ago. 'It's just a place where all the buskers squash together and you have to compete for space.'
The competition arises not just from other street performers, but also mobile phone contract salespeople and hawkers active on the street at night. It was also hard for the duo - who play light, funky folk music with a clarinet and a ukulele - to make themselves heard over amplified music from shops and LED billboards.
'We're an acoustic setup here; we're not that loud,' he said. 'So it's really not that good for us.'