Until it was demolished in 1993 Kowloon Walled City (九龍城寨) in Hong Kong was the most densely populated place on Earth, ever. Cantonese called it the City of Darkness. Due to it being a Chinese enclave surrounded by a British Colony it was not governed by either China or Britain. Instead it was mostly run by triad gangs. It was a hive of opium dealing, prostitution and a bolt hole for criminals in Hong Kong as police would not follow them or find them if they dared.
It was a dark, damp, dystopian place but most of the people who lived there were good, honest hard-working people.
THIS IS A VIDEO I TOOK IN 1990 WHEN I LIVED IN HONK KONG.
Unfortunately, I have lost the original tape. This is the only copy I could find on an old VHS tape where I had added Jan Hammer music when I got home to show my mates.
JAN HAMMER ( janhammer.com )
Music on this video is by the brilliant Czech-American musician JAN HAMMER. Anyone as old as me will remember him for the 'Miami Vice' theme and background music. These are two more of his less known tracks from his cd. The First one called TRANCE the second ONE WAY OUT.
When I uploaded this video to the web it had captions. Unfortunately, this service is no longer available on KZfaq but if you want a list of bullet points about Kowloon Walled City see below:
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Closed captions (now no longer available on KZfaq) in this video:
- The Walled City was a Chinese enclave surrounded by the British territory of Hong Kong. It was virtually ungoverned.
- The 6.5 acres of 10-14 storey buildings was home to 33,000 people. 1 person per square metre.
- Construction in the City was unregulated and 14 storey tower blocks were built just feet apart.
- It was run by Triad gangs such as the 14K and Sun Yee On
- It was one of the world's largest opium producing centres.
- It was well known for its cheap, unlicensed doctors and dentists.
- Criminals in Hong Kong would make a run for the Walled City as they knew the police wouldn't follow them in.
- KWC was known for its prostitution.
- Although the Walled City was renowned for its criminal activity, most residents were not involved in any crime and lived normal lives.
- There was constant running water everywhere I went from leaking pipes and aircons. This was filmed on a hot, sunny day.
- Numerous small factories and businesses thrived inside the Walled City. The famous, top quality Hong Kong copies were manufactured here.
- In Hong Kong it was illegal to eat cats and dogs but in KWC there were restaurants that specialised.
- The city didn't get running water until the 1960's. Even then it was diverted to triad run businesses so most people never got it.
- A few of the streets were illuminated by fluorescent lights but most were too dark for me to film.
- On upper levels there was a network of staircases and passageways which was so extensive that residents could travel north to south across the city without ever touching the ground.
- In 1993 the Walled City was demolished and replaced by a commemorative park.
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