Speaking of Hong Kong, what you can think of is the lights and wine? Or Wan Chai Pier? Or that passionate Hong Kong movie? Our initial understanding of Hong Kong came from "Hong Kong movies". The police films in Hong Kong movies are believed to have been deeply imprinted in the hearts of many people, and one place is often mentioned in the movie, that is, the "Kowloon Walled City". Once known as the "City of Hells," it was a forbidden place for the Royal Hong Kong Police.
The "Kowloon Walled City" of the 1980s was the cradle of crime, and the dark clouds always floated above the walled city. It's so dark, and it's so mysterious! What kind of story is there? Who single-handedly created the "Kowloon Walled City"? Who mastered the "Kowloon Walled City"? Who lives in the "Kowloon Walled City"? Let's pull out the clouds and answer these questions!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > the history of "Kowloon Walled City"! </h1>
Speaking of the history of the "Kowloon City Walled", it can be traced back to the Song Dynasty, during the Song Dynasty, here is responsible for drying official salt, legend has it that when the Southern Song Dynasty was destroyed by the Yuan Army, the little emperor of the Song Dynasty fled here and rested here, that is to say, the "Kowloon City Walled" is really a bit of an imperial place!
In order to prevent the Wokou, the Qing Dynasty built a fortress here in the early days, but whenever the Wokou invaded from here, the fortress would be released at the first time and wait for reinforcements, so it seems that the Chinese during the Qing Dynasty has never given up the land of Hong Kong.
Second, in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the whole world entered the era of great navigation, in order to better defend this land, the Manchu Qing government placed cannons for the fortresses here. In 1874, the Manchu Qing government expanded the area, and then it became a city, with walls and gate towers. Manchu officials and troops were stationed in the city, and there were ordinary people in the city. The Qing government also gave the place a new name, "Kowloon Village".
Later, due to the weakness and incompetence of the Manchu Qing government, the British forcibly leased the Chinese island of Hong Kong, and later forcibly occupied the Kowloon area of China, but the "Kowloon Village" was retained by the Qing government and became the Manchu Qing government office in Hong Kong at that time. In May 1898, the British at that time were rampant and ruthless, and forcibly invaded the "Kowloon Village", expelling all the people, officials and troops from the village from Hong Kong. But according to the last treaty signed by the Manchu Qing government and the British, the land of "Jiulong Zhai" still belongs to China!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="39" > from "Kowloon Walled" to "Kowloon City Walled"</h1>
At the beginning of the last century, China's war has been continuous, first warlord scuffle, then the War of Resistance Against Japan, and finally the War of Liberation, the war has displaced many people, especially the warlord chaos and the war of aggression launched by Japan, so that there have been many refugees in China, and a large number of refugees have fled to Hong Kong, hoping that this land can bring themselves shelter.
On December 25, 1941, Hong Kong called this day "Black Christmas". On this day, the Japanese began to invade Hong Kong, the British could not resist but surrender, and Hong Kong also began a nearly 4-year Japanese colonial period! During this period, the Japanese demolished all the walls of kowloon walled city in order to build an airport. A monument was wiped out!
In 1945, Japan was defeated, due to the weakness of the National Government, Hong Kong became a bargaining chip for those capitalist countries, did not return to the embrace of the motherland, continued to be administered by the British, the British began the second period of rule over Hong Kong, during which a large number of refugees came to the Kowloon Walled City and lived here. At this time, the Nationalist government was busy engaged in civil war, and had no time to take care of this area, and the British also took over Hong Kong again, and they did not look at this place, so it became a refuge for refugees!
Most of the refugees who came to Hong Kong lived in the "Kowloon Walled City". But at that time, the "Kowloon City Walled" was less than 40 acres, where can so many people be accommodated, so in this small land, high-rise buildings rose from the ground, these high-rise buildings are next to each other, the highest is 12 stories high, although these high-rise buildings are illegal buildings, but it gives those displaced people, a warm home. This is probably the angelic side of the "Kowloon Walled City"!
Speaking of the residents of the "Kowloon Walled City", they were not only refugees, but also became a shelter for the remnants of the Kuomintang after the Liberation War. With the arrival of these people, the Kowloon Walled City became more and more chaotic, and slowly became the darkest place in Hong Kong. It has also become a must-stay for stowaways. According to statistics, when the "Kowloon City Walled City" was the most, a total of about 50,000 people lived, which was once rated as the most densely populated area in the world, and even today's New York and Tokyo are beyond reach, according to the data, the Kowloon City Walled City is 120 times more than the two!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="42" > police forbidden land, cradle of crime, "city of hell"</h1>
In 1948, the crowding of the walled city made the British feel a little distracted, so they decided to rectify the entire "Kowloon Walled City". But the rectification did not go as smoothly as expected, and the British were met with strong resistance from the residents of the walled city. In the end, the unity of the residents of the walled city defeated the heavily armed British military police, and this time, the British began a period of 30 years of indifference to this place!
In 1949, after the founding of New China, there were more and more refugees and stowaways in the "Kowloon Walled City". According to the treaty signed by the Qing government and the British government in 1842, the "Kowloon Walled City" still belongs to the Manchu Qing government and does not belong to the British concession. Therefore, the Royal Hong Kong Police at that time were not allowed to enter the Kowloon City Walled City to enforce the law! The Chinese government was unable to administer this enclave, so the "Kowloon City Walled City" slowly became a "three-way" zone!
What is "three disregards"? That is to say, Britain does not care, China does not care, Hong Kong does not care. Under the circumstance that all parties cannot restrain it, the entire "Kowloon City Walled City" has become a veritable "City of Hell". The triad, here a new order, all crimes, became a legitimate business here.
During the British rule in Hong Kong, Chinese medicine was very discriminatory, so at that time, Chinese medicine practitioners were gathered in the "Kowloon City Walled City", but it was not so easy to practice medicine in the Kowloon City Walled City, and you had to pay protection fees to the bosses of their respective territories. Not only Chinese medicine, there were many black doctors in the city at that time, the most rampant of which was the dentist!
In addition to practicing medicine without a license, this is also the distribution center of fake goods in hong Kong, and the manufacture and sale of counterfeits in the "Kowloon City Walled City" has long become a common thing. But these are just pediatrics. Drugs, pornography, gambling, these legal orders prohibit, have become the GDP of the "Kowloon Walled City" here! Those triad outlaws, under the loophole of "three disregards", are here to make a big profit for black gold!
If you want to die, never set foot in the "Kowloon Walled City"! -------- a Hong Kong buzzword from the 90s
In the 60s of the last century, it was the darkest time in Hong Kong, and the whole of Hong Kong became the most corrupt place in the world, according to statistics, 80% of the officials were embezzled, which was the most rampant in Hong Kong's police force, and many of the movies we saw introduced this period. At this moment, the "Kowloon Walled City" became darkness in the darkness.
The corruption of the British government in Hong Kong has turned Hong Kong into a miasma, and the police chief and the triad people in Cheng Zhai have joined forces and turned various criminal matters into legal business. At that time, the Kowloon City Walled City became more rampant, prostitutes were everywhere here, the shops during the day became strip bars at night, the clinics during the day became places where Daoist friends giggled at night, and even sold heads, and if the police at that time could not catch the prisoners, they would come to the head shops of the "Kowloon City Walled City" to buy heads and use them to resist their mouths. Even knowing that it was so dark, the Royal Hong Kong Police did not dare to enter the walled city at will, because they would be in danger of losing their lives at any time!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="47" > the wonder of world architecture and the darling of the world film industry</h1>
Kowloon City Walled City is definitely a strange complex in the history of architecture, in that place of less than 0.027 square kilometers, large and small high-rise buildings are densely arranged, like a jungle of reinforced concrete. Where the narrow road leads is unknown, where the lines of wires and clothes are intricately intertwined, unobstructed sewers can be seen everywhere, and at the end of the road, it is likely that the iron fence is locked, or it may be a place you have never been.
Kowloon City Walled City is indeed "dirty and messy", but as far as the walled city itself is concerned, it has its own unique charm that attracts many people. The charm of the walled city has made many game designers come to see it. Eventually, they put elements of the Kowloon Walled City into a game they designed. Games like "Mr. Pumpkin 2", "Minato Treacherous Record", "Phantasmal", "Rogue", "Shenmue 2", "Call of Duty: Black Ops", "Breaking Out: Human Revolution" and other games are designed according to the terrain of kowloon walled city, if you want to see kowloon walled city can play these games.
The unique charm of the walled city not only attracts game manufacturers, but also attracts many big directors, like the famous director Zhou Xingchi when filming "Kung Fu", the pig cage city wall he personally built was built with reference to the Kowloon City Walled city! Not only that, but many of Hong Kong's police movies mention the Kowloon Walled City, which was once the base of Hong Kong's triad. Among them, movies such as "Chasing the Dragon", "O Chronicles triad Archives", "The Legend of Leiluo", "Ghost in the Shell" and so on all have profound descriptions of the Kowloon City Walled City in the 1960s and 1970s!
It is such a place, a real slum, a paradise for many people, a region for many people, a cash cow for many people, and a job for many people. Some people are here to laugh and laugh, and some people are dying here. It represents another culture in Hong Kong, different from the outside world, an alternative culture.
Kowloon City Walled City is attracted by its unique charm, not only game designers and film directors, but also some businessmen are also very yearning and appreciating here. In some areas, they refer to the former Kowloon Walled City to build cultural tourism projects, most of which are food streets. When you go to these food streets, you feel like you are in the "Kowloon City Walled City" of the 60s and 70s.
The "Kowloon Walled City" is the memory of the older generation of low-level Hong Kong people. It is more like a cultural symbol of Hong Kong, if there is no crime, it seems to be worth preserving, but its special charm also hides a huge safety hazard, densely populated, no good sewage system, no good fire protection system, which is a very bad safety hazard for this resident who lives in the walled city! If the Kowloon City Walled City is on fire, you won't know where to run! The garbage that can be seen everywhere in the walled city, the musty smell and odor that permeates the air, make the sanitary conditions of the entire walled city extremely poor. Finally, the Hong Kong government, resisting the pressure, decided to demolish this place!
On November 28, 1991, the kowloon walled city, known as the "City of Hell", began demolition work with the intervention of the Hong Kong government. The veil of this mysterious Hong Kong slum is also being lifted little by little.
Although the Kowloon Walled City is in tatters, but with its special housing prices, alleviated the pressure on Hong Kong people's housing, the demolition of the Kowloon City Walled City was not smooth at the beginning, but the government made a great compromise, and the treatment and conditions for the demolitionists were very favorable. Not only did some people who gave priority consent to apply for Hong Kong identity cards, but also gave them very high compensation, which was several times that of the surrounding house prices, which was unprecedented.
According to statistics, there were about 9,400 residents in the Kowloon Walled City at that time, and half of these residents moved to public rental housing, and these residents were very satisfied, because in the past they could not apply for public rental housing, but now they can, and some people have received demolition money plus their own savings to buy their own houses nearby, and they also have their own homes in Hong Kong. Among them, the most opposed to demolition is the dentist troops. Because the demolition directly affected their business, these dentists were very dissatisfied.
According to statistics, when the Kowloon Walled City was demolished, there were also many triad people obstructing it, so far the British government of Hong Kong has touched more than 5,000 police forces, and it has been a year-long time to see one by one. In the end, the evil forces in the walled city were swept away, and the demolition and relocation of the Kowloon City wall was completed.
After the demolition, the Kowloon Walled City became a Hong Kong landmark, the Kowloon Walled City Park, which was built in the style of the Qing Dynasty Jiangnan Garden. The whole park restores the Kowloon Village of the Manchu Qing Government. But many people still can't forget the smoky miasma of the walled city, where there are still many people's memories, many people's stories.
Although we can't see the Kowloon Walled City now, through games, through movies, through photos, through stories, we can learn about the magical Kowloon Walled City. Although kowloon walled city has a terrible history, it is still a miracle in the history of architecture, no, kowloon walled city is more like an art, although dangerous, but very attractive art.