As soon as I push open the shop door and step inside, the busy sounds of Hong Kong the pelting of the midyear monsoon rains, the cacophony of bumper-to-bumper traffic, and the rapid-fire chatter of Cantonese on the street begin to fall away. There’s now a sense of calm and order. Neat rows of display cases and glass cabinets, pushed against the walls or placed in the middle of the room, gleam silently under the shop’s fluorescent lights.
Within each case lie hundreds of items. At a sweeping glance, they all look similar off-white with yellow or brown hues, smooth and creamy in texture, like solidified milk. But a closer look reveals otherwise. There are chopsticks and chess sets, necklaces and name seals. There are statues of the Three Wise Monkeys and the Goddess of Mercy. There are intricate carvings depicting scenes from Chinese myth and folklore bearded men bearing scrolls, suited warriors riding antlered deer, dragons and phoenixes flying through rolling clouds.