Experience a moment of tranquillity where one of the world’s wildest and densest habitations once stood. The Kowloon Walled City Park is now home to a collection of traditional gardens and historical sites, a charming and unusual memorial to the grimy, anarchic set of high-rise buildings that were demolished there in the mid-1990s.
The Kowloon Walled City was a notoriously crammed residential area, home to some 50,000 people in the space of just a few city blocks. Ungoverned by health and safety regulations, this dense walled city was fiercely independent, becoming a haven for squatters as well as drug users and Triad figures. Dark, dingy alleyways and bustling streets criss-crossed the 300 interconnected high-rise buildings, where many apartments had scarce access to sunlight.
For so long an icon of the city, the Kowloon Walled City was eventually torn down in the 1990s. Billions of dollars were offered in compensation, but many residents were unsatisfied and tried to stop the demolition. Today you can visit where the city used to stand, which is now a grand park filled with gardens in the traditional Jiangnan style.
Find the Old South Gate, once the main gate into the city, and take in its authentic 19th-century symbols. Imagine the unique lifestyle that flourished here years ago. Now, instead of urban degradation, you will find a network of paths that lead past magnolias, serene ponds and sculpted bonsai trees. Look out for the names of the paths, which are taken from the original street names in the walled city.
Don’t miss the Yamen building, the only one still standing from the Kowloon Walled City. Visit the small museum there, and appreciate its southern Chinese architectural style. Stop by the Mountain View Pavilion, designed to resemble a docked boat, and look out over the Garden of the Chinese Zodiac.
The Kowloon Walled City Park is open every day until late, and entrance is free. The park is a fair way from the city centre, but buses regularly service the area.
