The Sheung Wa District of Hong Kong

This is Mercer Street (also called Ma Sa Gai) in the Sheung Wa district, where Ashley lives.  We are staying in her apartment.

Nearby by are the traditional Chinese medicine shops.  Here you see one (on the right).

To its left is a store selling birds' nests.  The swallow's nests are harvested high in caves.  The nest is held together with the bird's spittle and mucous.  It's considered very good for you when cooked up into a yummy soup,  and is quite a local delicacy.  We've seen shark fin soup on the menu but not yet bird's nest soup.  If we do, we are game to give it a try.  Hopefully we won't find it too good, as it must be hard to find a good birds' nest store in San Diego.

Finally, here is the inside of the medicine shop located on the right in the picture above.  Note the assistant pharmacist lying on the floor.

If you click on the picture, to enlarge it, you'll see sharks' fins hanging high at the back of the shop.