There is a tiny shop inside the Shang Wan Market Building that sells a traditional Chinese delicacy - preserved salty ground up olive in oil 油杬菜. This olive paste is considered a condiment, often eaten together with plain rice congee. Apparently, the kind that this shop sells is so good, so unique in its flavour that Hongkongers who have emigrated abroad will pay this shop a visit every time they happen to fly back to Hong Kong and buy a crate full of this preserved olive paste, ie. by the dozens. Just hope that every bottle of this prized delicacies arrive safe and intact at their final destination. After all, they are packed in glass jars. I am no connoisseur of this paste and am definitely not a salesman who is tasked with promoting this olive paste but do give it a try. I believe the majority of customers of this olive paste are those who grew up in the years before Hong Kong became an international financial center and an Asian metropolis. Any years before the seventies in the last century were lean years. The standard of living was not high. Neither was the take-home pay for the average breadwinner. Meat on the dining table was not an everyday fare. It was common in these times for Hongkongers to supplement their meagre choice of dishes with this olive paste. With its saltiness, a small amount is sufficient to make a bowl of white rice tastier. I am sure many retirees just cannot outgrow this olive paste, not only for the unique taste they have been so used to, but also the countless memories at the dining table when this paste was a permanent fixture.