“Pat Tau” (疋頭) actually refers to the meaning of textile and satin. After World War II, the Garment Industry Development in Sham Shui Po flourished, and with many factories erected, the demand for pat tau rapidly increased. At that time, many pat tau wholesalers saw the business opportunities and set up their shops on Nam Cheong Street, Yu Chau Street, Ki Lung Street, Tai Nan Street, and Cheung Sha Wan Road in Sham Shui Po, pat tau business was very prosperous in those days. However, with the Chinese economic reform, many factories chose to return to China to open factories because of cheaper labor costs in the mainland. It has led to a continuous decline in local demand for pat tau. At present, the pat tau stores in Sham Shui Po have become relatively fewer.

 If you walk through Ki Lung Street next time, you can try to find the Chinese character "疋" (pat1)!

​

疋頭其實是布和網緞的統稱。在二戰後，深水埗的製衣工業發展蓬勃，不少工廠林立，對布疋的需求急速攀升。當時，不少疋頭批發商看準商機，紛紛在深水埗的南昌街、汝州街、基隆街、大南街和長沙灣道開設店鋪，生意十分興旺。但隨著中國大陸開放改革後，不少工廠因為內地的勞工成本更為便宜而選擇返回國內開設廠房。這導致本地的疋頭需求不斷下降，現時深水埗的疋頭行業也買少見少。

當大家走過基隆街時，不妨留意一下「疋」(pat1) 這個字吧！