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Soaking In the Illicit History of the Kowloon Walled City

February 18, 2009 at 2:22 PM | by | Comment (1)

Every so often throughout history, a community will develop into something which becomes so illicit and notorious that it will figure in popular culture even past its demise. These places, like Carandiru Penitentiary in Brazil or old Mafia neighborhoods in Sicily, are often profiled on the History Channel around Halloween, but we had the chance to visit the remnants of one such dark place on our recent trip to Hong Kong.

The former Kowloon Walled City, a lawless district outside of central Hong Kong, spent the years from 1899 to 1987 steeped in inhumane living conditions paired with opium dens, cocaine parlours, brothels, unlicensed dentists and Triad gang rule. Pictures of the overcrowded "City of Darkness," like the one above, are enough to give one goosebumps.

After it was evacuated and torn down in the late 1980s, the area cleansed itself by turning the site into a traditional park complete with ponds, lush greenery and pavilions. Now known as Kowloon Walled City Park, it is open to tourists as well as locals who desire a rest from the city. Having heard about it every so often, and yes even on the History Channel, we made the trek to the park to settle our curiosity. Now that sunlight can once again reach this patch of land, the area is a lush tropical garden dotted with historical remnants of the Walled City's foundations. It is most definitely a worthwhile jaunt from the modern sterility of Hong Kong proper.

How to get there: From Tsim Sha Tsui or Central, take the MTR blue line north and switch to the red line at Mong Kok. Continue north on the red line and alight at the stop Lok Fu. From here, it is about a 10-minute walk past the Christian cemetery on the hill (also worth a look). Plan to spend about an hour walking around the entire garden, and we recommend re-reading the story of the site while you are there to really drive home the creepy history.

Related Stories:
· My Father Lived in Kowloon Walled City [Doobybrain]
· Kowloon Walled City on Wikipedia [Wikipedia]
· Hong Kong Field Trip Coverage [Jaunted]

[Walled City photo: Mirage.Studio7]

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i am pretty sure

that's a picture of Wall-E's junkyard patrol.
juliana on February 18, 2009 at 2:23 PM #Permalink

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