Kowloon Walled City - An Awkward Hong Kong icon of the past

I decided to make a few threads over the next few weeks, pointing out some of the classic icons of Hong Kong that have faded into history. You might not be aware of them but they make interesting studies of the history of the territory.

You may not have heard of the Kowloon Walled City, even though it was in existence into the 90s. This tiny area managed to cram 30,000+ people into dark, dingy labyrinths of triad controlled vices of every kind. It's legal status of an enclave, where both governments practically allowed the various mafia factions to rule with impunity, contained every imaginable form of unlicenced 'specialist'...

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I never got to visit the place as I arrived in Hong Kong long after it had been demolished, but what a fantastic adventure it would have been to get lost in the place... and indeed, it must have been a photographer's dream.

Even though it's gone, it has it's place in cinematic history, for example, here's a really gay clip from the movie 'Bloodsport'...



There are a few videos about the place if you search, like this Japanese language documentary...



It must have been truly iconic, with the old Kai Tak airport still in operation and the aircraft flying low over Kowloon. There are a couple of interesting websites dedicated to the site of the enclave, such as http://www.archidose.org/KWC/Main.html and this archived blog type site of the exploration of the city after it was evacuated ready for demolition... http://web.archive.o...ry/index_e.html ... and obviously, there's a Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia....oon_Walled_City

Just watched the Japanese clip. Not one sign out of what looked like thousands was in English. Not that too many round eyes would have ventured in there.

I'm not really claustrophobic by nature, but that place would have had me climbing the walls. Even walking down Nathan Road in the middle of the day was enough. Me at nearly two metres and over 100 Kg surrounded by this flowing mass of Cantonese 30 cm or so shorter than me and half my weight or less, virtually shoulder-to-shoulder, front-to-back like a Roman phalanx.