Hong Kong

Chops. Vendors along Chop Alley in Hong Kong (Man Wa Lane, just off of Bonham Strand near Queen's Road) will translate names into Chinese and engrave the characters onto stone seals known as chops, which have been traditionally used with red ink to sign documents. Pickup is usually next day, unless you arrive early.

Chinese medicine. The Central and Western district of Hong Kong Island has numerous shops selling remedies and tonics (Good Spring Herbal Pharmacy on Stanley Street is an especially picturesque one). Some Bonham Strand area shops will also have an herbalist on hand to take your pulse and hand out a prescription. For a more accessible experience, go to Chinese Urban Healing Tea, a homegrown chain that sells prepackaged tea formulas and has a resident Chinese medicine doctor at its Central branch (Shop W7, Central MTR Station—inside, near Exit A to Worldwide House; tel: +1 852 2840 0518).

Tea. Many Hong Kong shops still sell tea in bulk, dispensed from magnificent tins stored in warehouse-like storefronts. A number are clustered around Queen's Road near Hollywood and Bonham Strand, but some charming ones are also found on the Kowloon side. At the family-run Jim Sing Hop Tea Company in Mongkok (Ground Floor, 35 Fife Street; tel: +1 852 2394 5284), you can watch tea being sorted and packaged in the front room.