The walled city of Kowloon. How the Kowloon Walled City Lived

I will tell you about an unusual place in China that has interesting story. The very first historical days of this place are lost somewhere in the era of the Chinese rulers of the Song Dynasty, which stretched from 960 to 1279. The last emperor of this dynasty, Bing, did what a simple Chinese emperor should do: he gave names to nine mountains on a peninsula in southern China, one of them, of course, naming his name. All these nine mountains are called Kowloon (translated from Chinese - "nine dragons"), and one of them is also called Kowloon, oddly enough.

Soon the whole area was named Kowloon, later the entire peninsula, and then much more. Now it is not clear which of these Kowloons is Kowloon, and which of them, in fact, is not Kowloon, but Kowloon ... After the Song dynasty successfully collapsed with the death of Bing and the arrival of the Mongol Khan Kublai Khan and his Yuan dynasty, Kowloon (which outpost) was almost forgotten. True, it was more or less additionally strengthened in 1668, but its role was not very large - only three dozen soldiers were constantly in it.

In June 1898, a document was signed between the then last monarchical Qin dynasty and the British authorities, according to which the latter received the right to establish its colonies in Hong Kong - an area that included Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon Peninsula and a number of adjacent territories.

The only place that the Chinese did not give up was the very outpost of Kowloon, surrounded by a protective wall. The Chinese authorities thus wanted to keep a small territory for themselves, from where it was possible to exercise at least some control over the actions of the colonists - so that they would not be too loose.

During World War II, the Japanese who occupied the territory evicted people from the fortress with impunity and even destroyed the ancient wall, parts of which were used to build an airport nearby.

After the end of the war and the formation of the People's Republic of China, the city began to be slowly settled by criminals, as well as refugees from the main part of China.

In 1959, when a murder took place in Kowloon Fortress, the situation turned out to be completely ridiculous: the Chinese government tried to blame the incident on Britain (which in the meantime tried to ignore Kowloon Fortress), and the British on China.

In the 1970s, the walled city (actually no longer a fortress) became a real paradise for mafia groups, drug dealers and drug addicts ... Since no one looked after Kowloon, such people flocked there by the thousands. Although, of course, there were also quite decent citizens who lived there for a long time and returned after the departure of the Japanese.

The appearance of the houses - more precisely, this solid residential monolith. A standard balcony is a “birdcage”, closed on all sides with bars, on which it is convenient to hang various objects, saving space and this is a good way to protect yourself from thieves, who are here, by virtue of historical reasons, too much.

One way or another, but the population grew rapidly, and by the beginning of the 80s of the last century it reached 30 thousand. The housing issue was solved simply: more and more high-rise buildings were built there, new floors were added. There was little space, but still the inhabitants became more and more.

In 1984 Britain agreed to recognize the city as part of Hong Kong. There was nothing particularly terrible here: according to the convention, the British had the right to own the territory for only 99 years - it remained to suffer some ten years.

Despite all the hardships, people in Kowloon tried to somehow arrange their lives. In this, they were particularly assisted by salespeople in 148 stores, as well as 150 doctors, among whom were 87 dentists - according to the late 1980s. It was a particularly popular profession. Even residents of prosperous Hong Kong came to treat their teeth in this dentists' lair.

But in order not to keep this terrible lair with them, the colonists decided to simply destroy this city and resettle its inhabitants. The British have been preparing for this step for a long time and were able to make it only in 1993. The task was not an easy one: after all, by the time this monstrous place was destroyed, 50,000 people already lived in the city, about as many fit in a medium-sized stadium.

But in the 1990s, this "stadium" became cramped. As it is easy to calculate, with an area of ​​​​only 0.026 square kilometers, the population density reaches two million (!) People per square kilometer. Compare with the average population density in London - about five thousand people per square kilometer - or in the same Hong Kong, where it is slightly more than six thousand ...

However, until the last moment, the number of people grew more and more. In one tiny room, sometimes several people lived at once; there was sometimes another establishment there. The establishments, however, were not so hot: casinos, brothels, opium brothels, drug laboratories huddled next to simple shops and catering places.

In January 1987, the Hong Kong government announced plans to demolish the walled city. After a difficult process of evicting the people living there in March 1993, demolition began and was completed in April 1994. In December 1995, a park of the same name was opened on this site. Some of the city's historical artifacts, including the yamen building and the remains of the South Gate, have been preserved.

And in memory of this terrifying fortress city, they left such a memorial statue that repeats the appearance of the disappeared landmark.

The memory also left a small story on local TV, which was made shortly before the city was demolished.

A small infographic on the "city of anarchy", as Western journalists called it. It is interesting to see how such an uncontrolled anthill developed.

Dailymail photos were used to prepare the post

Kowloon is an area of ​​Hong Kong that clearly shows how monstrous the degree of compaction can reach. Hundreds of high-rise buildings huddled together, narrow aisles between them, lack of sunlight, children playing on rooftops, opium dens and brothels. In 1987, about 33 thousand people lived here on a small plot of 2.6 hectares.

The story began in 1841, when Great Britain was on fire with the desire to sell more and more opium. British troops landed on Hong Kong Island and the adjacent Kowloon Peninsula. On the peninsula, the British found only a small city of the same name, Kowloon (translated as “Nine Dragons”) and a fortified fort that served as the residence of a local mandarin.

As a result of hostilities in 1842, Hong Kong Island was ceded to the British, and in 1898 a new convention was concluded, according to which Hong Kong and Kowloon were leased by Great Britain for the next 99 years, with one small circumstance that had big consequences.

This circumstance is marked on the map above in the right corner as Chinese Town (“Chinese Town”). According to the new convention, this fortified fort was excluded from the lease agreement. It continued to be Chinese territory, forming a kind of enclave in the British colony.

Then, of course, no one could have thought that after a few decades this formation would develop into a quarter that has no equal in terms of population density.

This enclave was somewhat nominal. In fact, the control of the fort was carried out by the British. During the Second World War, the peninsula was occupied by the Japanese, who dismantled the walls of the fortress and used the stone from them to expand the military airfield, which later turned into Kai Tak, Hong Kong's main airport, for many years.

After the end of the Second World War, the walled city of Kowloon continued to be a territory of China, surrounded on all sides by the British colony. The laws and administration of Hong Kong did not apply here, its inhabitants did not pay taxes to anyone. Kowloon has become a haven for refugees with " mainland" who were fleeing civil war in China.

Tens of thousands of squatters began to flock to the territory of the former fort, taking advantage of the status of Kowloon. The main goal was to start a new life, formally still in China, but in fact, in the same Hong Kong, using all its benefits.

Any attempts by the British administration to prevent spontaneous construction on a small spot ran into resistance from local residents and the PRC government, which threatened a diplomatic conflict in the event of any actions by the Hong Kong authorities on the territory that they considered their own.

According to some estimates, by the end of the 1960s, up to 20 thousand people lived on an area of ​​​​2.6 hectares. Of course, these figures are inaccurate, because it was impossible to keep a centralized record of the residents of the fortress city.

The squatters showed miracles of survival and adaptation in an essentially anarchic society. In the absence of a central water supply, 70 wells were dug, from which water was delivered by electric pumps to the roofs of buildings, and from there it was sent through a labyrinth of countless pipes to consumers' apartments. The lack of electricity was solved by illegal connection to the Hong Kong power grid.

The inhabitants of Kowloon also built themselves. As the population of the area increased, one-, two- and three-story houses were overgrown with new floors. The building density also increased. This is how Kowloon has changed over the decades.

Only a small spot in the center of the quarter remained relatively free, where the yamen, the residence of the mandarin, still reminiscent of the former history of Kowloon, has been preserved.

Around it, by 1980, about 350 high-rise buildings were built, located so densely that from panoramic shots, Kowloon looked more like one huge and monstrously ugly building.

In fact, there were no streets within the quarter. There were passages that formed such a confusing network for the uninitiated that a stranger who got here quickly lost orientation in space.

The building was so dense that high-rise buildings often hung over the aisles, blocking sunlight from entering.

The block was a maze of narrow lanes for miles, and there were no cars at all.

The passageways were illuminated only by sparse lanterns and neon signs of countless shops, shops, hairdressers, doctors' offices that occupied all the first floors of the buildings.

About a hundred dentists alone worked here, and they had no end to clients.

The absence of the need to obtain a medical license and pay taxes to anyone made it possible to keep prices for services at a level inaccessible to their colleagues from Hong Kong, working on a neighboring, but already “civilized” street.

Kowloon had its own industry: food, haberdashery, light industry. In fact, it was a city within a city, in many ways able to exist autonomously.

There were even several kindergartens and schools in the quarter, although basically, of course, the older members of the families looked after the young children, and the older children somehow managed to be placed in Hong Kong schools. In fact, the roofs, where one could find at least some free space, became a space for socialization and recreation of the inhabitants of the area.

And huge planes were flying over the roofs, which were at hand. The specific approach to landing at the Kai Tak airport, the one that the Kowloon fortress walls went to build, required the pilots to make both a dangerous and effective U-turn just before landing.

It started at an altitude of 200 meters, and ended already at 40, and somewhere in the middle of this most difficult maneuver for the pilots was the high-rise buildings of Kowloon bristling, as if with rotten teeth.

It was because of this neighborhood that the height of the quarter's buildings was limited to 14 floors - almost the only requirement of the Hong Kong administration that the inhabitants of the walled city complied with. In return, they received an amazing and completely free spectacle right above their heads.

In the first decades of the transformation of the old Chinese fortress into a residential area with its own special flavor, the only real power here was the triads - secret criminal organizations that were common in pre-war China.

They turned the area, which had just begun to grow, into a nest of various vices. Gambling establishments, brothels, and opium dens literally flourished in Kowloon.

In the book “City of Darkness”, Kowloon of those years was described as follows: “Here, on one side of the street, there are prostitutes, and on the other, a priest distributes milk powder to the poor, while social workers give instructions, drug addicts sit with a dose under the stairs in the entrances, and children's playgrounds at night turn into a dance floor for strippers."

It was only in the mid-1970s that the Hong Kong authorities, having secured the approval of the PRC government, carried out a grandiose series of police raids that ended in the actual expulsion of all organized crime groups from Kowloon.

Despite its brutal appearance, the area was a rather calm place in terms of the criminal situation.

Toward the end of the 1970s, centralized water and electricity supply and sewerage finally appeared here, and mail began to be delivered to Kowloon.

But, unfortunately, these changes for the better were not reflected in the appearance of Kowloon. Samostroi grew, and capital repairs of buildings or at least cosmetic renovation of facades were out of the question.

This is how the quarter went down in history.

Most residents huddled in small apartments with an average area of ​​23 square meters. m.

Extensions to the external and internal facades of buildings were very common, the houses grew together. Even a parallel ground crossing system was formed, located at a certain height from the ground.

Kowloon was turning into a single whole organism, a huge “communal apartment”, a building-city, as if it had come to the present from a post-apocalyptic future.

In 1987, the governments of Great Britain and China entered into an agreement that settled the status of Kowloon, because in 10 years Hong Kong was to return to the jurisdiction of China.

The administration of the British colony was finally given the right to demolish the quarter that disfigured its face.

Demolition began in 1992-1993.

All residents received either monetary compensation for the move, or apartments in modern new buildings in Hong Kong.

But nevertheless, the destruction of this anarchic relic, born almost a century ago, was prevented by violent protests of the natives, who did not want to lose their usual freedom and way of life. But Kowloon was doomed.

The district was demolished quickly, but Kowloon managed to "light up" in the 1993 film Crime Story ("Crime Story"), in which Jackie Chan's character fights against the kidnappers of a Hong Kong businessman.

One of the key episodes of the picture was filmed in Kowloon.

The impending liquidation gave the creators of the action movie unlimited freedom of action.

Even several spectacular scenes were filmed with real explosions of residential buildings in the fortress city.

In 1987, when the Hong Kong administration and the PRC government entered into an agreement dooming the area to destruction, a study was conducted that made it possible to more or less accurately determine the number of its inhabitants. It turned out that about 33 thousand people lived here on 2.6 hectares. It was an absolute record of population density on Earth.

For comparison: if Kowloon were an area of ​​1 sq. km, 1.27 million people were supposed to live here.

And if Moscow became Kowloon with its area of ​​approximately 2500 sq. km, then almost 3.2 billion people would live in the Russian capital, that is, the entire population of China, India, the United States and Indonesia combined.

After the demolition, a picturesque park of the same name appeared on the site of Kowloon, repeating its outlines.

Now this is a favorite vacation spot for local residents, and only a memorial with a layout of the quarter, which has become another landmark of Hong Kong, reminds of its phantasmagoric past.

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The walled city of Kowloon is known as the most densely populated place on our planet, which existed throughout the 20th century. In fact, being part of Hong Kong, this territory, whose area was 2.6 hectares, was not subject to the laws of any of the countries. The streets of this walled city, which consisted of hundreds of high-rise buildings, were so narrow that even sunlight did not penetrate them. The children who lived there had no other opportunity to play except on the rooftops. This city was the kingdom of secret triads, opium dens and brothels. In 1987, 33 thousand people lived on its small territory.

Fortunately, two decades ago, this place, which had become a disgrace to the reputation of the colony of Britain and a negative example of the situation when compaction reaches a monstrous degree, was finally freed. And today we can only know his story. It is very interesting and introduces us to many amazing facts.

The beginning of the story

Kowloon Fortress originated about a thousand years ago. Its history began with the construction of a small fortified settlement designed to manage salt sales. However, by the middle of the 19th century. conflict broke out in this area. Great Britain went to war against the Qing Empire. The reason was the desire of the British to sell more and more opium to the local people, which was boldly opposed by Chinese officials who banned the import of Bengali drug into the Celestial Empire.

Territory conquest

As a result of the Opium War conducted by Britain, Hong Kong Island in 1842 began to be considered its colony. In 1898, a new convection was concluded, which made it possible to expand the jurisdiction of China. Under the terms of this agreement, Kowloon and Hong Kong were leased by the UK for the next 99 years. However, in this document contained one condition that had great consequences for the history of the Kowloon Walled City. The fortified fort, in which the officials of the Celestial Empire lived, was excluded from the lease agreement. Thus, it continued to be considered a territory belonging to the Qing Empire, and a kind of enclave was formed in the English colony. In those distant times, no one could even imagine that in just a few decades the Kowloon Walled City would become a quarter in Hong Kong, the population density of which would exceed all conceivable and unimaginable indicators.

Destruction of the fort

For a long time, despite the signed treaty, the fortress city of Kowloon was actually controlled by the British. During the Second World War, the territory of the peninsula was occupied by the Japanese. They dismantled the thick walls of the fort and used their stone to expand the nearby military airfield.

Post-war developments

And after the end of hostilities, the fortress city of Kowloon continued to be considered a territory of China, surrounded by a British colony. There were no laws in this small piece of land. The population of the walled city of Kowloon, as well as its administration, did not pay taxes to anyone. Not surprisingly, this former fort has become a real paradise for refugees who fled the civil war that began in China.

Hundreds, then thousands, and even tens of thousands of squatters began to rush into Kowloon. They took advantage of the status of the former fort and began their new life, seemingly and still in China, but at the same time enjoying the benefits of Hong Kong, while being in absolute independence.

The fortified city of Kowloon (Hong Kong), located on a small patch 210 m long and 120 m wide, began to actively get upset. The British administration made every effort to prevent the spontaneous erection of buildings. However, they were all in vain. It is interesting that not only local residents resisted the restoration of order in this territory, but also the government of the PRC, which began to threaten the British with a diplomatic conflict if they took any action on foreign soil.

living conditions

In the late 60s of the 20th century, the walled city of Kowloon had, according to some estimates, up to 20 thousand inhabitants. Of course, no one could name the exact figure of the number of people who managed to accommodate on a patch of 2.6 hectares. After all, no one kept records of residents, and it was simply impossible to do this.

At the same time, tens of thousands of people demonstrated miracles of adaptation and survival in these horrific conditions. First of all, there was no central water supply. The issue of water supply was solved by the residents of the fortified city by digging 70 wells. From them, water was supplied by electric pumps to the roofs of houses, and then descended into apartments through a labyrinth of pipes installed in buildings. They didn’t sit here without light either. Despite the fact that the Hong Kong authorities did not supply electricity to this quarter, this issue did not become a particular obstacle to the existence of people. The houses were illegally connected to the Hong Kong power grid by employees of the Hong Kong Electric company, who lived in the high-rise buildings of the fort.

Construction of houses

How was Kowloon Fortress City built? Interesting Facts The history of this settlement also relates to the structures erected on its territory. The inhabitants of Kowloon were engaged in the construction of houses by themselves. Initially, on its territory, which was completely liberated from the remnants of buildings after the bombing of the Allied aircraft, small houses appeared in one, two and three floors. However, the population of the fort began to grow at such a pace that there was a catastrophic lack of housing for everyone. That is why the number of storeys of houses increased at an accelerated pace. At the same time, the building became denser and denser. This is how the quarter changed over the course of several decades.

What was the former fort?

If we make a description of the Kowloon walled city, then it can be argued that everyone, even the smallest plot that was free on this territory, had its own high-rise building. More or less spacious was only a small spot located in the center of the quarter, where the residence of the mandarin (yamen) was preserved. This is one of the rarest relics, which is included in the list of Hong Kong attractions and still reminds of the history of Kowloon Fort.

Already by the 80s of the last century, 350 multi-storey buildings were erected around this unusual quarter. They surrounded the territory of the walled city so tightly that, looking at panoramic shots, one could compare Kowloon to one huge and monstrous building. There were no streets as such within the quarter. The houses were separated by narrow passages, which formed such an intricate network that an uninitiated person could not properly navigate this space. Very dense buildings confirmed the enormous value of every centimeter of space. In addition, high-rise buildings often literally hung over the existing walkways, preventing sunlight from entering the block. And of course, there was not a single car in the walled city. Only kilometers of narrow alleys, folding into an intricate labyrinth.

Infrastructure

The aisles were lit with rare lanterns and neon signs of numerous shops, shops, doctors' offices and hairdressers, which were located on the first floors of all buildings. Interestingly, almost a hundred dentists worked in the fortress city, and they had no interruption with clients. Such services were attracted due to their low prices, which were formed due to the absence of the need to obtain a medical license and pay taxes.

In addition, many small handicraft industries were opened in the fortified city. It had its own light, food and haberdashery industries. The former fort could be called a kind of city within a city, able to largely exist autonomously.

There were even several schools and kindergartens in the quarter. Although in most families the grandparents looked after the kids, and the older children were somehow arranged in Hong Kong educational institutions.

It should be noted that cinemas, clubs and sports grounds were not included in the list of the quarter's infrastructure. Roofs have become a real space for recreation and socialization of the population of the former fort. Only here everyone could find at least some free space. Children played on the roofs, their parents talked and met, representatives of the older generation sat at a game of manjong.

Number of floors

Huge planes flew over the houses of the walled city of Kowloon. They were so close to those who were on the roofs of the building that it seemed that they could be reached by hand. All this was explained by the specifics of the landing approach that the liners made at the very airport where the Japanese had once taken all the stone from the fortress walls of the fort.

The pilots were forced to make a dangerous maneuver that began at an altitude of 200 m and ended at 40 m. In the middle of this turn were the high-rise buildings of Kowloon. It was precisely because of the proximity to the airfield that buildings in the quarter were not built higher than 14 floors. This was practically the only requirement of the Hong Kong administration, which the inhabitants of the walled city fulfilled unquestioningly.

Rise of Crime

Already at the very beginning of its transformation, when the old Chinese fortress turned into a sleeping area, the triads became the only and real force on its territory. These are criminal secret organizations that were widespread in pre-war China.

The triads, taking advantage of the fact that neither the Hong Kong administration nor law enforcement agencies show any interest in the quarter, immediately turned it into a nest of various vices. Brothels, gambling establishments and opium dens flourished in Kowloon.

Change for the better

In the mid-70s of the last century, the Hong Kong authorities decided to restore legal order in the quarter. They secured the approval of the Chinese government and began to carry out grandiose police raids. The result of this work was the complete expulsion of all organized crime groups that existed in Kowloon.

Improved living conditions

At the same time, not only centralized electricity and water supply, but also sewerage finally appeared in the fortified city. Kowloon has even started delivering mail. All these changes have led to the fact that the former fort has become a more comfortable place to live. However, the appearance of the buildings remained the same as before. In addition, the construction of squatters continued here, and there was no talk of a major or cosmetic repair of housing. This is how the quarter went down in history.

Most people huddled in small apartments, the average area of ​​​​which was 23 square meters. To expand their space, they built a variety of extensions to the inner and outer sides of the facade. At the same time, the buildings finally grew together, and a second system of transitions arose in the area, located at a certain height from the ground. Kowloon gradually turned into one huge communal apartment, into a building-city, and even into a kind of single organism.

Demolition

In 1987, an agreement was concluded between the governments of China and Great Britain, which settled the status of Kowloon in connection with the upcoming return of Hong Kong under Chinese jurisdiction 10 years later. This document gave the British administration the right to carry out the demolition of the walled city of Kowloon.

Work began in 1992-1993. All residents of the quarter were given either monetary compensation or apartments in modern, growing by leaps and bounds, new buildings in Hong Kong. However, despite these attractive conditions, the population of the anarchic relic, which arose almost a century ago, expressed violent protests. People did not want to change their usual, full of freemen life. But Kowloon was still demolished.

Today there is a park on this site. The walled city of Kowloon he repeats with its outlines. Locals like to walk in this picturesque place. In addition, in the list of places of interest in Hong Kong, there is also a memorial, which is a model of this fantastic quarter.

But not only those who come to Hong Kong can get a closer look at this amazing settlement. The walled city of Kowloon appears in computer games. In some, it serves as a plot location, while in others, the main events unfold in its lanes and high-rise buildings.

I have already (like you probably) seen this photo many times and even roughly imagined where this place is and why it is, but after digging deeper, I found out a little more. I will share with you...

Not a single photograph of Kowloon (Kowloon Walled City), taken at one time by tourists, can convey the true appearance of this "city". Most of all, Kowloon resembled a communal apartment, in which in the late 90s of the last century ... 50 thousand people lived at the same time!

The history of this strange building began many hundreds of years ago, when one of the Chinese emperors decided to build a small fortress on a coastal piece of land to protect it from robbers. The place for the fortress was chosen not far from one of the nine mountains that towered on the peninsula. (Actually, the word "kowloon" is translated as "nine dragons" and, most likely, this name referred to the nine mountains). The fortress received the same name.

After the death of the emperor and the coming to power of another dynasty, the fortress fell into decay, lost its significance, and its only inhabitants were two or three dozen soldiers led by an unpromising officer, yes the bats bred in abandoned premises. I must say that the harsh warriors who guarded the forgotten outpost did not even imagine what a luxurious living space they use compared to their descendants.

Centuries passed. Dynasties changed, the guards of the fortress changed. And in the middle of the 19th century, on an island near Kowloon, the commercial and criminal pearl of Asia, Hong Kong, appeared and began to grow. The Chinese authorities, under pressure from the British, leased the island and the entire nearby coast to the British for 99 years, but retained Kowloon ...

... True, not for long. The treacherous British first signed a lease agreement, and then seized the fortress by force.

However, having burst inside, the British were severely disappointed: dirty, smelly streets, dark, gloomy rooms, rats and seven hundred Chinese scared to death - that's what met them in the fortress. The British gave up on Kowloon and went to finish building promising Hong Kong.

Since then, the fortress has acquired the status of "untouchable" - formally, it belonged to the jurisdiction of the Hong Kong authorities, but in fact, Kowloon and its inhabitants turned out to be of no use to anyone - neither the British nor the Chinese government.

The Kowloon Fortress was standing, and around it the infrastructure was rapidly developing, modern houses and skyscrapers.

After the end of the war, Kowloon again passed to China and bandits, drug dealers and ordinary people who once lived there. Thus, in the 1970s, the place became a paradise for mafia groups. The population grew at an incredible rate and by the early 1980s was over 30,000 people. In the early 1990s, this figure had already grown to 50 thousand people, and this, despite its area of ​​just under 0.03 square kilometers, thus, the population density here was 2 million people per 1 square kilometer. The population density in London is currently less than 5 thousand people per 1 square kilometer, and in modern Hong Kong this figure is about 6.5 thousand people.

How did they all fit in there? Very simple. The already cramped streets were built up with closets, additional buildings were erected on the roofs. As a result, Kowloon has become like a huge, 10-12-story anthill - the famous St. Petersburg courtyards-wells look like chic boulevards compared to this "city". The inhabitants of Kowloon moved from place to place on the rooftops, deftly avoiding hundreds of satellite dishes stuck here and there - it was faster and safer this way. The police did not show their nose here - here you could easily disappear without a trace.

Meanwhile, in Kowloon itself, life was in full swing. Hundreds of basement factories made everything your heart desires: clothes and shoes, household appliances and drugs. Dirty kitchens fried food, mostly dog ​​meat. In dozens of stores you could buy almost anything your heart desires - from a "Japanese" tape recorder to a woman or a batch of heroin - if only there was money. One and a half hundred doctors (there are 87 of them dentists), with and without licenses, were ready to cure any diseases for a solid reward (of which, of course, there were enough in such a place), or to send them to the next world.

Those who dared to get inside the tourists - the inhabitants of clean, tidy European cities, Kowloon attracted with its "dirty" exoticism: children playing among the garbage that had not been removed for years, apartments that were not much different from public toilets, balconies that looked more like cages for birds of prey. (Almost all the windows in Kowloon were heavily barred against thieves, making the living quarters look even more like prison cells.)

Extreme tourists shuddered past casinos, brothels, literally open drug labs, eateries, fearing not only to eat, but to touch the dishes that were served there. They diligently set up their cameras in order to convey the whole horror of existence in the city forgotten by the authorities (which, by the way, not everyone succeeded in - sometimes there was not enough space to focus the camera), and then with a happy sigh they left this haunted place and hurried back to the civilized , clean and sterile world.

In addition to sick tourists, Kowloon turned out to be a godsend for directors - directors of gangster films. Typical plans for filming gangster dens, "raspberries" and other paraphernalia of the shadow world were not to be occupied here.

Be that as it may, by the end of the millennium, it was decided to put an end to the criminal fortress city. By that time, as already mentioned, 50 thousand inhabitants lived in it, or rather, sat on each other's heads. That's two million people per square kilometer! None of the largest cities knows such a population density. For example, in nearby overpopulated Hong Kong, this figure is about 6 thousand people per square kilometer - more than 300 times less!

At that time, the territory where the ghost town was located was still ruled by the British, but the expiration date of the lease was already close. Perhaps, before leaving the “apartment”, the British decided to clean it up, and Kowloon was the most “chaotic” place in Hong Kong. For him, and took with special energy.

It is not known where the inhabitants of Kowloon were settled (perhaps most of them settled on their own, saving the authorities from the need to build additional prisons), but soon a beautiful park appeared on the site of a terrible pile of high-rise buildings. The builders also restored some historical buildings, such as yamen, the old houses of Chinese officials. By the way, archaeologists, who had previously dug around the site of the ancient fortress, discovered many interesting finds there, and replenished local museums and private collections.

In this updated form, Kowloon opened to the new authorities in 1997, when the UK returned the right to rule Hong Kong to the Chinese. And now only amateur photographs remind of the old ghost town, saturated with poverty and crime.

One of the shops in Kowloon.

At night, life in Kowloon was in full swing.

In "Idora" William Gibson there is a stunning image - the Fortress - a city of hackers on the net, a digital haven of freedom-loving outcasts, an amazing virtual Eldorado. Outwardly, the Fortress looks like a wild and chaotic heap of pieces of code, scripts, some unfinished images - like a monolithic lump of rubbish. Already in the intro Gibson says that his fantasy was influenced by photographs of the real Kowloon "fortress" (or rather, Kowloon Walled City).

“They say it all started with a shared kill file. Do you know what a kill file is?

- Not.
- A very ancient concept. A way to avoid unwanted incoming mail. The kill-file did not miss this correspondence, for you it is as if it did not exist at all. It was a long time ago when the network was still very young.
Kya knew that when her mother was born, there was no or almost no network, although, as school teachers liked to say, such a thing is even hard to imagine.
“How could this thing become a city?” And why is everything so tight there?
“Someone came up with the idea of ​​turning the kill-file inside out. Well, you understand, this is not how it really happened, but how it is told: that the people who founded Hak-Nam got angry because at first the network was very free, you could do whatever you want, and then they came companies and governments with their own ideas about what you can and cannot do. Then these people, they found a way to release something. A small area, a piece, a piece. They made a kind of kill-file for everything they didn't like, and when they did, they turned it inside out."
William Gibson, "Idoru"

The children played mainly on the roofs, as there was much more space here than in the streets between the houses.

Local people, despite all the hardships of life, tried to somehow equip their homes.

Between the houses there were small gaps, which are the streets. There, local residents basically threw out garbage that could lie there for weeks and even months.

Chinese inscriptions.

Another shop of a man who obviously loved cats very much.

The average height of buildings in Kowloon was 10-12 stories.

Very often apartments were combined with factories or shops. In this, for example, flour was produced.

In such unsanitary conditions, they were engaged in butchering meat.

The city of Kowloon has haunted the authorities and respectable residents of Hong Kong for several decades. About 30 thousand people huddled on a plot of 2.6 hectares for a long time. Drug addiction flourished here and the triads ruled, and representatives of the law preferred to bypass this area.

History of Kowloon Walled City

A significant date in the existence of the walled city of Kowloon was 1841. The army of the British Empire landed on Hong Kong Island, where at that moment a well-fortified fort was already organized. It was conveniently located and allowed to control many trade flows, which attracted the British here.

The fighting did not last long. A few months later, the city of Kowloon, where the fort was located, and which was previously owned by China, passed into the department of the British as a colony. The authorities of different states managed to agree at the end of the 19th century, when in 1898 a new agreement was drawn up. The agreement decided that the British could be stationed on the territory of the peninsula, but only as long as this did not interfere with the interests of China.

Fact. The fortress itself, which occupied an area of ​​over 2 hectares, was excluded from the contract. It so happened that in the center of the British colony there remained a small territory under the jurisdiction of the eastern authorities. Then only watchtowers and barracks were located here, and the population was about 700 people. In less than a century, the walled city of Kowloon became an autonomous region, in which 33,000 residents found shelter.

During World War II, the fort was destroyed by the Japanese, who took control. After the end of hostilities, China reclaimed the territory. 2 thousand inhabitants of the Celestial Empire occupied the ruined fortress, although the British still claimed it. The city became a place where refugees flocked to escape the civil war.

Over time, the British came to terms with such a neighborhood and stopped interfering in the affairs of Kowloon. Any actions of the British were perceived by the Chinese with hostility, since formally the fortress belonged to the Celestial Empire.

Spontaneous construction took place; by the 1950s, local residents were practically subordinate to no one, considering themselves almost a separate state.

Crime

Kowloon in Hong Kong became a place where the triads ruled. Among several criminal gangs, the 2 most powerful ones stood out:

• "Sunyon";
• "14K".

Both triads are still active today. In the mid 50s - 60s of the last century, they exercised control over the former fort from Hong Kong. All sorts of vices flourished here. Prostitution, drug addiction, gambling establishments - in Kowloon you could get any forbidden pleasure.

Nearly all residents used drugs. Those who are richer could afford the so-called "red pills". Opium cost a little less, and heroin was the cheapest, but quickly killing dope.

Fact. Representatives of the law occasionally tried to restore order, but this practically did not give a result. It was only in the 1970s that a mass cleansing was carried out here. The police seized tons of drugs, organized more than 2 thousand arrests. This put an end to the dominance of the triads, but did not affect the general standard of living.

interior

By 1987, the city's population density reached record highs. More than 30 thousand people lived here. There was a catastrophic lack of space, so the residents were constantly building something up. They carried out all the construction work themselves, which influenced how Kowloon ended up looking like.

In the photo from a height, you can pay attention to how tightly the houses stand to each other. There was practically no free space; sunlight did not break through to the lower tiers due to such a close building. The following distinctive features were characteristic of the internal structure of the former fort:

• houses grew up, floor by floor, but more than 14 were not built. This is due to the ban of the Hong Kong authorities. The airport was located in the immediate vicinity. The planes came in to land on a dangerous trajectory. A few more floors could lead to a plane crash;
• neither in the 60s nor in the 80s did cars appear on the streets. It was simply impossible. All free space was used only for the construction of houses. People were forced to move through cramped dark alleys where it was easy to get lost;
• as such, there was no street lighting. There were practically no streetlights, and the cramped streets were lit only by neon signs.

Water supply

When Kowloon was just populated and built up, there was no question of having a centralized water supply here. In the future, this became impossible due to the chaotic arrangement of houses. However, the lack of inconvenience did not bother the local residents. They dug their own wells. There were dozens of them throughout the city.

Fact. In the future, the authorities decided to install columns, the water from which was supplied to the houses with the help of pumps. This happened in the 60s of the 20th century. Until that time, the triads had held control of the wells, collecting money from those who wanted to use them.

Electricity for everyone

The inhabitants of the former fort showed miracles of survival. If they were able to solve the problem of water supply, then with electricity the situation was even simpler. People illegally connected to electric networks. Among the locals, there were enough specialists who helped to carry out the illegal action. Candles were used, even fires were lit. This has repeatedly caused fires.

The authorities decided to install electricity in 1953, after another major fire. In the 70s, a large-scale update of the existing network was made.

Life

Since the population density was catastrophic, few people could afford a spacious dwelling. Most of the residents settled in apartments up to 20 square meters. The small area contained both a bedroom and a kitchen, and sometimes preschool and educational institutions that appeared spontaneously.

Historical information and photos say that people preferred to spend a significant part of their free time on the roofs. Here there was access to fresh air and the sun, and, therefore, the opportunity to break out of the usual cramped environment at least for a while. Nobody was embarrassed by the fact that landfills were often organized on the roofs, since the locals had no choice.

Factories and plants in the fortress

By the 1960s and 1970s, Kowloon had become a separate enclave that could supply residents with almost anything. It had its own industry:

• food;
• haberdashery;
• light.

Often the factories were located in the same cramped apartments where the people themselves lived. No one had a license for production, but illegal products scattered instantly. It was bought up not only by locals, but also by visitors from Hong Kong.

Medicine and services

Fact. In the city of darkness, unlicensed dentists thrived. Its absence allowed them to offer favorable prices for services, so Hong Kong residents were their frequent customers. Not all dentists practiced without a license, but most did not seek one.

The buildings housed numerous catering establishments that offered forbidden dishes from cats and dogs. There were many hairdressers and even cartographers who map the intricate labyrinths of the former fortress. Tourists were attracted by illegal casinos and brothels.

End of everything

A whole era of lawlessness and carefree existence came to an end in 1987. Then the authorities of the Celestial Empire and British diplomats decided to establish the administrative status of Kowloon. The British got the right to demolish the calloused area.

Demolition began in the early 1990s. Residents of the township received either cash rewards or housing in Hong Kong. For these purposes, the authorities have allocated 350 million dollars.

People actively resisted the demolition of the area. They did not want to part with their usual freedom. They have long ceased to be embarrassed by the lack of normal amenities, crowding or unsanitary conditions. However, the authorities were determined and already in 1992 they began to demolish the buildings. The process ended fairly quickly.

Modern city fortress

In 1994, the last house was demolished. Almost immediately, a beautiful park began to grow on the site of spontaneous development. It has the following distinctive features:

• the territory of the green zone repeats the outlines of the former enclave;
• a memorial is installed here, which houses the exact model of Kowloon;
• the design is developed according to the style of the Qing Dynasty;
• each alley was named after a street in the former criminal district;
• the area of ​​the park is 31 thousand square meters, which is slightly larger than that of a real city;
• 5 nominal stones and several old wells have been preserved, with the help of which people received water.

Today, the green zone is a favorite vacation spot for residents. Its territory is divided into 8 main zones.

With this word, the Chinese designate all official institutions and departments. In Kowloon, it refers to a residence where a mandarin once lived. Yamen is an amazing building, because it was built in 1847, and has survived to this day. It is the only one that survived numerous destructions and demolitions.

Fact. The premises were restored when it was decided to open a park in the area. Old photographs were placed inside, as well as exhibition halls that will tell a lot about the history of the fortress city.

old south gate

Another artifact that has survived from Kowloon, the city of darkness, is the remains of a 19th-century gate. They were demolished during the war, but the foundation remained intact. During the demolition of buildings, the gates were discovered and decided to be restored so that the park would receive another attraction. They have acquired the status of a historical heritage of Hong Kong.

Other areas of the park

Visitors are drawn to the carefully planned design of the green area. Classical Chinese pavilions are located here, and the park itself is divided into zones:

• garden of four seasons;
• garden of zodiac signs;
• terrace of the six arts, etc.

Here, tourists can get acquainted with the history of Chinese architecture and even touch it with their hands.

The church did not belong directly to the territory of a separate enclave. It was built long before the formation of the modern town - in 1730. The temple was visited first by the officers of the fort, then the inhabitants of the settlement began to visit there.

Conclusion

Kowloon and Hong Kong today are one. However, until recently, these two cities were inhabited by representatives of cultures completely alien to each other. Some deliberately abandoned the benefits of civilization for the sake of freedom to live the way they want, others preferred to follow the path of development.

Only a beautiful park and numerous historical references now remind of the existence of a densely populated area. Documentary videos tell about life in the area, as well as the book "City of darkness", the authors of which speak without embellishment about all the nuances of life in Kowloon.