Ladies Market > Opening Hours

Ladies Market Hong Kong Opening Hours 2027 — Daily Times, Best Time to Visit & Holidays

Ladies' Market is open every day from 12:00 noon to 11:00 PM. Entry is free. The stalls run along Tung Choi Street in Mong Kok, between Argyle Street and Dundas Street. On Mondays to Saturdays the street closes to vehicles from 4:00 PM until midnight; on Sundays and public holidays it is car-free from noon until midnight. Those are two different timetables — when the stalls are licensed to trade, and when the road is shut to traffic — and most pages about Ladies Market hours run them together.

The stall times are the licensed hawker-pitch window that the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) publishes for Tung Choi Street, and they are identical every day of the week. They describe the licence, not each stallholder's shift: vendors set up through the early afternoon, so a walk down the street at 12:00 noon finds some pitches still being assembled rather than a market in full swing.

What time does Ladies Market open and close?

The licensed window is 12:00 noon to 11:00 PM, seven days a week. All four pitched sections of the street — Argyle to Nelson, Nelson to Shantung, Shantung to Soy, Soy to Dundas — carry the same 1200–2300 hours in the FEHD register, and there is no weekday, weekend or Sunday variation in it.

Two practical notes for planning a visit inside those times:

• The early afternoon fills up gradually. Vendors arrive through the early afternoon; by late afternoon both sides of the street are trading and the pedestrian zone is doing its work.
• 11:00 PM is the licence, not a guarantee. Some stalls pack down well before it, particularly on quiet weeknights. If you are coming late for something specific, arrive by about 9:30 PM rather than 10:45 PM.

FEHD's general rule is that hawker licensees may trade between 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. every day unless a pitch has its own specified hours. Tung Choi Street is a pitch with specified hours, and that is where the 12:00 noon start comes from. It is a licensing fact, not a shop opening time the market chooses, and it does not move for weather or public holidays.

Is the market open every day?

Yes. The licence runs daily, Sundays and public holidays included, and there is no day of the week when Tung Choi Street stops being a market. What changes across the week is the road closure, which starts earlier on Sundays, and the size of the crowd, which peaks at weekends.

The one date we cannot clear is the first day of Lunar New Year — see public holidays and Chinese New Year below.

The pedestrian zone, explained

Ladies' Market trades on a street that is still a road for part of the day, so the pedestrian timetable matters more here than at a purpose-built night market.

• Monday to Saturday, 4:00 PM to midnight. Tung Choi Street between Argyle Street and Dundas Street is closed to vehicles. Before 4:00 PM stalls occupy the pavement side of the street while traffic still runs down the middle.
• Sundays and general holidays, 12:00 noon to midnight. The street is car-free from noon, so the market reaches its full size much earlier in the day. This window has been in place since August 2000.

Watch the finish time. Several guides print a 10:00 PM Sunday close for Tung Choi Street; that is the timetable the Transport Department introduced in 2012 for the neighbouring pedestrianised streets — Sai Yeung Choi Street South, Nelson Street and Soy Street — not for Tung Choi Street, which kept its noon-to-midnight Sunday window. A guide quoting 10:00 PM is describing the wrong street.

Best time to visit, and times to avoid

The hours above tell you when the market exists; they do not tell you when it is pleasant. On that second question the market has two very different moods:

• 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM is the sweet spot. The street is pedestrianised, every stall is up, the light is good for photographs and the worst of the evening crowd has not arrived. A weekday afternoon in this window is the calmest the market ever gets.
• Friday to Sunday, 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM is the crush. Tour groups, local families and weekend shoppers overlap, movement is slow and a busy stall will not have much time for you.
• There is nothing to see before noon. The licence starts at 12:00 noon, and on Monday to Saturday the street is still open to traffic, so an early-morning visit means an empty road.
• After about 9:30 PM the market thins out. Quieter and easier for a conversation about price, but some stalls are already closing.

Visiting with a wheelchair, a pram or an older relative? The same timings decide how easy the aisle is, and our access guide has the calmest times to visit with a wheelchair or pram.

For the calmest times to visit with a wheelchair or pram, the same pattern applies: aim for the 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM window, and avoid the Friday-to-Sunday evening crush.

Crowds also follow the tourist calendar. Spring (March to April), the August school holidays and the run-up to Christmas are busier than a quiet month. That is a pattern rather than a published figure — use it as a nudge towards a weekday, not as a schedule.

Weather and typhoon season

Hong Kong's typhoon season runs roughly from May to November, peaking in July to September, and a tropical storm day affects any outdoor street market. There is no published weather clause in the Tung Choi Street stall licence, and no official rule that the market shuts at a particular signal. In practice some vendors pack up early when a storm is closing in and the street empties quickly, so in typhoon season check the Hong Kong Observatory's warnings before you travel and treat severe weather as a day to rearrange rather than a day to risk.

Ordinary rain is a different matter. The stalls have covers and keep trading, and a wet weekday evening is one of the quietest, easiest times to shop — if you do not mind carrying an umbrella.

Public holidays and Chinese New Year

Ladies' Market is licensed every day, so a public holiday is a normal trading day rather than a closure day. Holidays do change the street: because the pedestrian zone starts at noon instead of 4:00 PM on general holidays, public holiday afternoons are among the busiest of the year, and a holiday that falls on a Monday keeps the weekend crowd going all day.

The other public holidays — Christmas, New Year's Day, Easter, Ching Ming, Buddha's Birthday, National Day — bring no special hours. The market keeps its normal 12:00 noon to 11:00 PM window; only the road-closure time moves.

Getting there

The market occupies Tung Choi Street between Argyle Street and Dundas Street, in Mong Kok, Kowloon. The nearest station is MTR Mong Kok, on the Tsuen Wan and Kwun Tong lines: Exit E2 comes out on Nelson Street, a couple of minutes from the stalls, and Exit D3 brings you along Argyle Street to the top end of the market. Allow about five minutes on foot from either exit.

Step-by-step directions, including the walk from Tsim Sha Tsui and from Mong Kok East, are on the how to get to Ladies' Market page, and the stop-by-stop route is in getting to Ladies' Market from Mong Kok MTR station.

Frequently asked questions

What time does Ladies Market open?

12:00 noon, every day. The noon start is the licensed hawker-pitch window for Tung Choi Street, so the market is at its best from mid-afternoon rather than at noon sharp.

What time does Ladies Market close?

11:00 PM, every day of the week. There is no earlier closing time on Sundays or public holidays — the stall licence is the same on all seven days. Individual vendors often pack down before 11:00 PM on a quiet night.

Is Ladies Market open on Sundays?

Yes, with the same 12:00 noon to 11:00 PM trading hours. Sunday is also when the street is pedestrianised from noon rather than 4:00 PM, so it opens to shoppers earlier and stays busy all day.

Is Ladies Market open on public holidays?

Yes — the market is licensed daily and public holidays are normal trading days. The one unresolved date is the first day of Lunar New Year, Saturday 6 February 2027, which we cannot confirm either way.

Do I need a ticket to get into Ladies Market?

No. Ladies' Market is an open street market, free to walk through; you pay only for what you buy, and prices are negotiable. Our bargaining guide covers how that works in practice.

Planning the rest of the visit? Things to buy at Ladies' Market and the price guide cover what is on the stalls and what it should cost, nearby attractions covers what else is within walking distance, and if you are choosing between markets the Temple Street vs Ladies Market comparison sets the two night markets side by side.

Understanding these timing patterns transforms a casual visit into a strategic shopping expedition that maximizes both value and experience at Hong Kong's most famous street market. For comprehensive bargaining strategies and product guides, visit our complete Ladies Market bargaining guide. On what to pay with, see payments and cash at the market.