Cat Street

This guide to Cat Street in Hong Kong traces Upper Lascar Row from its start as a bazaar run by lascar sailors who settled in Sheung Wan after 1842, through its reputation by the 1920s as an open market for stolen goods. You'll hear the Cantonese slang behind the street's nickname, and the local wisdom that a theft here was better solved by browsing the stalls than calling the police. Look for the dealers now selling Qing ceramics, bronze Buddhas and old coins along the same two-hundred-metre lane.