If you’re not quite up to speed on Hong Kong’s history, Kowloon Walled City was an extremely densely populated section of Kowloon that housed an interesting mix of residents. Prostitution, gambling, and drug use were very common in this area. The Walled City was predominately ungoverned by HK, instead it was controlled by the Triads for the last few decades before the HK government decided to begin evicting all residents in order to demolish the city.
I have read and watched some interesting articles and short documentaries on the Kowloon Walled City that were really eye-opening. The ways in which these people lived during this time almost seem unimaginable in a large city such as HK now; since they weren’t directly governed by HK, they had relatively no laws constraining them (for example, in food health and safety).
The Walled City was demolished in April of 1994 and the Kowloon Walled City Park was opened in December 1995. The Park has beautiful grounds and has tried to preserve some of the history of the Kowloon Walled City throughout. The grounds are really beautiful and make for a lovely stroll on a breezy afternoon. There are small ponds, interesting artifacts from the past, and little stations where older women have tea demonstrations – they allow you to sample different types of tea and explain the origins, benefits, etc.
To get to the Kowloon Walled City Park, we took a ferry from North Point Ferry Pier since it was closest to me (there are many other routes you can take depending on where in HK you are coming from). We took the North Point ferry to Kowloon City, Ma Tau Kok Public Pier. Once at the ferry, we hopped onto bus 11b at the terminal which is just in front of the pier. I can’t remember the exact stop we alighted at, but I believe we asked the driver to let us out when we reached the stop for the Walled City Park. Once we got off, there was a sign for the Kowloon Park, so we just kept following those.
Exploring the Kowloon Walled City Park:
Remnants of the Past:
Tea Seminars:
hong kong fong
August 25, 2014 at 6:22 pmLove this park – didn’t realize they do tea rituals 🙂
Jo
August 26, 2014 at 1:38 amThat is interesting! I wish I knew about this city/park when I visited Kowloon. When the city was still around, were people in the city allow to leave?
thisgirlabroad
August 26, 2014 at 9:00 amLots of interesting history in HK!
Yes, they were allowed to come and go as they pleased. They weren’t confined to that area at all. The Walled City was just their residence, similar to different neighbourhoods we have today.
Marta
August 26, 2014 at 7:14 pmI read about this place but haven’t been there. Interesting!
Ranan Samanya
August 31, 2014 at 9:39 pmDid they demolish every single building? I thought there a a few still left.
thisgirlabroad
August 31, 2014 at 11:05 pmThey demolished the buildings, but there are remnants of the Walled City that they preserved and placed around the Park.
“In 1987, with the agreement of the Chinese authorities, the decision was taken to clear the area and build a park on the site which would incorporate as many remaining features as possible of the original buildings and other features.”
You can read more about the city and the park here: http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/parks/kwcp/en/index.php
Ranan Samanya
September 1, 2014 at 3:01 pmI see. Thanx!