Hong Kong - Kowloon Walled City

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 30 June 2022

⏱️ 9 minutes

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Summary

A unique way of life came to an end in Hong Kong in 1993 when Kowloon Walled City was demolished. When the rest of Hong Kong was a British colony, the seven acres of the Walled City were still nominally under the control of mainland China - but it became a lawless world of its own. At one point it was one of the most of the most densely populated places the world has ever seen. Lucy Burns speaks to Albert Ng, who grew up in Kowloon Walled City, and urban designer Suenn Ho, who studied it before its demolition. (Photo: Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thanks for downloading the witness history podcast from the BBC World Service.
0:09.0	It's 25 years since Hong Kong sovereignty was transferred from the United Kingdom to China.
0:15.0	This week we're looking back at fascinating stories in the territories history.
0:19.0	Today, the last days of Kaolun World City, a few acres of land
0:24.0	which a quirk of colonial administration left as a kind of island
0:28.0	within British controlled Hong Kong.
0:30.0	It was out of reach of both British and Chinese governments
0:34.0	and became one of the most densely populated places on earth.
0:38.0	Lucy Burns spoke to Albert Ngu who grew up there and Suen Ho who studied it.
0:43.0	The only reason why we moved into the Kaolun World City was that
0:47.0	there was the only place that we can afford.
0:50.0	This is Albert Ngu. He grew up in Kaolun World City.
0:54.0	After his family moved to Hong Kong from mainland China in the 1970s.
0:58.0	You know the Kaolun World City was famous for a few things.
1:02.0	Prostitution, gambling and drugs.
1:06.0	When I walked to school through those dark alleys, I would see people giving one another something
1:13.0	and I got to know that they were doing drugs.
1:16.0	The first thing you feel is that warm moisture that has a stench.
1:23.0	It's stinky.
1:25.0	When you walk in, you really feel that you are going into like the dragon's throat.
1:33.0	This is Urban Designer Suen Ho.
1:35.0	She'd grown up in Hong Kong but gone to the US for college
	...

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