When you walk around Mongkok, you will find there are many streets and roads in this narrow district. If it is the first time you come here, you may be confused about the complicated streets, and get lost in the crowded people.At the crossroad, people come and go with all possible haste as soon as the light turns green. Their glances skid over each other, and rest nowhere. Placed yourself in the scene, you may have some illusions that you were floating on the boundless sea and the entire world was filled with desperate loneliness. This is Mongkok— the most crowded place in the world.

If you look at a detailed map of Mong Kok, you will become interested in the names of the roads and streets. A few of streets have acquired interesting nick names reflecting their own characteristics, in which way Mong Kok preserves its own tradition and culture. Moreover, you can also find the diversity of language use here.

Nathan Road is the main thoroughfare in Mongkok that goes in a south-north direction, which is lined with shops, restaurants and tourists. If you refer to history books, you may surprisingly find it was the very fist road built in Kowloon, after the land was ceded by the Qing Dynasty government and made part of the crown colony. We can still find some colonial-style houses with arched verandahs and covered archways today. You may wonder where the name "Nathan" comes from, which seems to be an English name. Indeed, the road was named after Sir Matthew Nathan, the 13th Governor who served between 1904 and 1907. Argyle Street is the other main road in this area. The name was originated from a British Business Ship in late nineteen century. These road names preserve the stamps of colonialism.

The old colonial days has gone, however, the influence of language use has been retained. The colonial British government influenced the contours of Hong Kong society through many perspectives. A century and a half colonial rule has definitely left its imprints, which are so evident in everyday life. All streets are named both in English and Chinese. It is common for streets to be named in English first, with the Chinese version coming second. Also, many English names are translated from Chinese. We can see a clear picture of combination of different language use in street names of Mongkok.

Apart for colonialism, there are still other streets that display Chinese and local culture. You may wonder why some streets in Mong kok are called Tung Choi Street or Sai Yeung Choi Street, and is there any relationship between Mong Kok and Choi. The answer is definitely yes! Initially villagers in this area lived on the cultivation of ipomoea aquatica and watercress. The name Tung Choi and Sai Yeung Choi are the Cantonese names. This interesting phenomenon tells the history of Mong Kok local residents. Moreover, you can find streets named Shandong Street, Changsha Street and Shanghai Street. These streets are all named in Mandarin after main cities in mainland China. If you're looking for traditional Chinese things like bamboo steamers, old-style Chinese scales, or abacuses, or even traditional Chinese wedding gowns, you can find them there. It's clear to see that what a big influence Chinese culture has on this area.

The street names are not simple marks, but also cultural symbols which tell stories and histories of Mongkok.