Dai pai dong

I took this photo in a side street in Central, just steps away from first class office buildings and high end shops. I think the few westerners here look pretty cool as they were really getting into local life and were so at ease eating at a dai pai dong. The term "dai pai dong" literally means "big license stall", referring to the bigger size of the actual business license issued to this kind of outdoor eateries. HK people probably have very mixed feelings about dai pai dong, they carry a collective memory of carefree style good food with vibrant atmosphere, while the messy environment and undesireable hygiene standard are hard to fit into the city nowadays. The government has been replacing dai pai dongs with indoor food centres and there are only 28 active and non-transferrable licences, when the current licensees age and inevitably die, dai pong dong will eventually disappear. p.s. oops, almost forgot to show you this wider shot ;p Link: a very detailed and interesting wiki page on"dai pai dong" Tags: Central|dai pai dong|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life