Little Green Shops

With their distinctive green façade and compact size, pai-dongs—or tin hawker stalls—line streets all over Hong Kong. From Pottinger Street to Mong Kok, the storekeepers of these little booths sell everything from fresh produce and cooked meals to fashion accessories—and just about everything in between. The majority of us walk past these pai-dongs every day without giving them much thought, but given their versatility, adaptability, and the independent spirits of their shopkeepers, they’re very much a symbol of the city. Here, we take a look at the history of the pai-dong, as well as meet some people who are helping to keep pai-dong culture alive.

The History of Pai-dongs

A street hawker historian tells us how these green shops came to be.
Green tin hawker stalls, better known as pai-dongs, are a common sight on the streets of Hong Kong. However, their history and the reason for their unique appearance are known by few. Chong Yuk-sik, a researcher of the history of hawker development, has spent her time poring over historical documents surrounding these green tins, and her findings have helped shed light onto the history of hawking. Besides looking into the history of the pai-dong, Chong has also penned two books relating, respectively, to the history of Hong Kong’s newspaper stands and dai pai dongs.

Of all the hawker stores in Hong Kong, pai-dongs were the earliest to appear. “Looking at official documents, we can see that pai-dongs first appeared in the 1930s, before World War II,” Chong says. In official terminology, pai-dongs are referred to as “fixed pitch stalls.” Naturally, this means that they are immobile and are positioned in a certain spot. However, this was not always the case, back when hawker stalls crowded every sidewalk. “Hawkers would move the stalls in the past… [but they] found it impossible to move the stalls every day,” Chong says. “In the 60s, the regulations were relaxed and the authorities allowed the hawkers to store their goods inside their stalls, and so they didn’t need to move them anymore.” Since then, these hawker stalls have become “fixed.”

Another common source of conflict between hawkers and officials was the regulations that required the hawkers to sit inside their stalls. “In the 50s and 60s, there were a lot of prosecutions of hawkers because they would stand or sit outside the stalls. But hawkers told the authorities that it was simply impractical,” Chong says. The regulations were then relaxed, and the officials stopped penalizing hawkers, so long as they were near their own stalls.

Nowadays, the main row between the government and the hawkers centers on the size of the pai-dongs themselves. Many hawkers complain about the restrictive dimensions, which are three feet by four feet—which in themselves are slightly bigger than the previous guidelines of two feet by three feet.

Another noticeable change in the evolution of pai-dongs is that these days, many of them have a canopy for shade. “In the past, the law didn’t allow hawkers to build canopies. But some hawkers sold food, and their produce would rot under too much sunlight. So in the 1950s, the hawkers fought for the right to build canopies,” says Chong. Today, canopies remain a contentious issue for hawkers; they continue to argue with officials about whether extendable canopies may be built, or whether they pose a threat to fire safety.

Today, most of the pai-dongs are made up of metal such as tin and iron. However, the earliest pai-dongs were actually built out of wood. “In the very beginning, hawkers were very poor people and didn’t have money to buy metal, it was very expensive,” Chong says. “Also, metal rusts, unless you do a lot of rust-proofing… Hawkers didn’t make much money, and all this work was too much hassle for them. Wood, or even paper, was the handiest material at that time.”

The pai-dong’s bright green hue is very iconic—and you may be surprised to know that petty traders were never required to paint their stalls green. When asked about the color, hawkers say that they don’t know why the color is so popular; they just keep returning to it because everyone else does. “In fact, hawkers demanded to paint their pai-dongs. In the 60s, hawkers wanted to show the authorities that they were legal ventures, so they suggested using a uniform color among the stalls,” Chong explains. Of course, the officials welcomed the suggestion, as it looked tidier and made it easier for them to distinguish between the lawful and illegal stalls. Gradually, the green hue became the norm among hawkers—and the signature green façades are now Hong Kong icons.