Kowloon is a city of darkness. Kowloon is a city of darkness. Features of city life

From the 1950s to the mid-1990s, tens of thousands of immigrants lived in a self-built city within what is now Hong Kong. The walled city of Kowloon was isolated from the main city, and its total population was approximately 33 thousand people. Given the small size of the territory (2.6 hectares), the population density here was higher than in current New York. The city was rampant with crime, prostitution, alcoholism and more, but Kowloon continued to function until its demolition in 1993.

In 1986, Canadian photographer Greg Girard came to the city and over the next four years filmed the lives of ordinary people within the walls of Kowloon. The man lived first in the city itself, then outside it, but the photographer was genuinely interested in this kind of phenomenon.

Houses in the city were more like Lego structures, because people actually built rooms one above the other. “It all looked great in the end,” says Girard.

While Girard was here, the city was almost safe, but despite this, the locals forbade their children to walk near Kowloon.

The residents of Kowloon earned as much as they could. So, schools at night turned into striptease bars or gambling clubs, and it was not so uncommon to meet a person on the street in a state of drug intoxication, usually under opium.

A dentist named Vaughn is in his office. Like other doctors in the walled city, the woman did not have the opportunity to work outside of Kowloon, so crowds of Hong Kong workers flocked here for affordable medical care.

The houses were built in such a way that even in the daytime sunlight did not penetrate between the streets. Girard says that "it was always night in the city."

The only place where it was possible to escape from dirt and dampness was the roofs of houses, although this was far from safe. There was a lot of rubbish on the roofs, and also due to improper building there were many cracks into which one could fall.

Home production was a big part of the city's infrastructure. Local noodle producers and dog meat traders took advantage of the lack of control over entrepreneurial activity.

One of the most popular home-made products was fish balls, which were subsequently supplied to local restaurants.

Sanitary standards at such enterprises were given almost the last place.

The lack of legislation has become the reason for the spread of crime. According to Girard, law enforcement agencies, as a rule, intervened only in the case of serious crimes. Although there are rumors that the Hong Kong police preferred to “turn a blind eye” to many offenses.

One law could not be violated under any circumstances - all houses in the city were supposed to be no higher than 13-14 floors. Otherwise, the planes would have hit them when they descended to land at the Kai Tak airport, which was operating at that time.

Despite not having the best reputation, the city was able to unite thousands of people who had almost nothing before.

Every year the life of people in Kowloon became more measured and civilized. Girard says that the attitude of the locals towards him changed dramatically in 1990, when it became known that the city would soon be demolished.

After the demolition of Kowloon in 1994, a park was built in its place, which today is very popular among tourists and residents of Hong Kong. Kowloon Park attracts photographers, bird watchers and simple connoisseurs of nature, which is so rare in the modern metropolis.

The fortress city of Kowloon at the present time has remained only in the memory of mankind as evidence of the tremendous changes taking place as a result of intensive socio-economic transformations in the rapidly developing countries of Southeast Asia.

The history of Kowloon Fortress began during the reign of the Chinese Song Dynasty. For centuries from 960 to 1270, the Chinese Mandarin dynasty controlled the saltworks on the coast. South China Sea... From time to time, pirate raids were made on the salt artels. To protect them, a small fort was built on the coast near the Kowloon Peninsula. Kowloon in translation sounds like "nine dragons". This is the name of the mountains of the peninsula, consisting of nine peaks. This name also migrated to the name of the fortress itself.

After the death of the emperor, the Song dynasty ended its rule. Accordingly, it lost its significance and strength. On its territory there were still soldiers and officers, but what exactly and from whom they were guarding, apparently, it was not entirely clear to them themselves. This continued until the 17th-18th centuries. At this time, English merchants began to actively import opium into China from neighboring India. Influential Chinese officials tried to counter the opium traders, and Fort Kowloon was revived, resuming its control and guard functions. A war broke out between Britain and China to control the import of opium into the Middle Kingdom, which was later named the First Opium. At the end of the war in 1842, the British Empire received the right to own the island of Hong Kong, and in 1898 the Kowloon Peninsula, with the exception of the fortress, passed under the jurisdiction of the British Empire.

Fort Kowloon remained part of the possession of the Qing Empire, forming a kind of enclave within the British colony. In 1899, the British decided to take possession of the fortress, but when they found themselves there, they did not find anything worthwhile and set about arranging a more progressive Hong Kong. It must be said that in 1940 the British colonists nevertheless replaced all the buildings that had fallen into disrepair inside the fortress and provided five hundred settlers with new apartments. During the Second World War, the Japanese ruled the peninsula. They dismantled the walls of the fort to use the stones in the construction of an airfield for military aircraft. Later, this airfield was converted into the main airport of Hong Kong, Kai Tai, which became one of the most dangerous airports in the world.

Although the Kowloon fortress formally came under the jurisdiction of Hong Kong, the Chinese continued to consider this territory as theirs. In fact, no one was eager to finance and develop this small space 210 meters long and 120 meters wide - neither the Chinese nor the British.

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Territory with undefined status

The territory with an indefinite status, in which the laws did not apply, began to attract, first of all, those who were at odds with the law and those who did not want to pay taxes while doing business. Thieves, dealers, drug dealers, prostitutes and other criminal elements poured into Kowloon in a huge stream. In addition, the population of Kowloon began to grow exponentially after the events in China in 1947 due to the flow of refugees from the communist regime of that country. Formally, these people lived in China, using the benefits of Hong Kong, but in fact they did not follow the laws of either country, and most importantly, they did not pay taxes.

Any attempts by the British administration to somehow influence the situation and restore order met with the discontent of the residents of Kowloon, followed by threats from the Chinese government regarding the intervention of the Hong Kong authorities in the internal affairs of their country. The Hong Kong authorities withdrew from Kowloon, preferring not to pay attention to him, and began to develop new areas on their territory. Feeling free will, in the 50s, gangs of Chinese triads flourished, which controlled life in Kowloon. It was quite legal to open casinos and brothels here, laboratories in which drugs were developed and manufactured were openly functioning.

Some of the settlers were doing quite ordinary things: some sewed clothes, others produced food. The number of ordinary workers significantly exceeded the number of those who controlled Kowloon and unsuccessfully tried to "crush" everyone who produced various kinds of consumer goods. Therefore, the mafia was gradually ended. This did not mean that hot spots disappeared in Kowloon, but there were significantly fewer of them, and residents of Hong Kong, who were attracted by the absence of taxes and the opportunity to freely engage in any business, were drawn here. As a result, already in 1993, more than fifty thousand people lived on an area of ​​6.5 acres. Kowloon has become the most populous territory on the planet.

Giant fortress

Naturally, the question arose of how to accommodate a huge number of the population in a limited area. In Kowloon, this problem was solved by building the upper floors of existing houses, as well as completing their facades. As a result, the previously existing 350 separate buildings turned into a solid giant fortress, in which all the houses were connected by passages. Due to this "architectural complex", numerous Chinese families were able to huddle in tiny apartments with a total area of ​​no more than 23 square meters. Only the central part of the quarter was untouched, as in former times the Mandarin's residence was located here. The construction boom was limited by the strict decision of the Hong Kong authorities - not to build buildings above the 14th floor. Despite the lawlessness that reigned in Kowloon, this requirement was fulfilled, since there was an airfield nearby.

Huge planes right above the rooftops made dangerous turns, landing, flying over Kowloon at such an altitude that it seemed that you could touch them with a hand while standing on the roof. This dangerous and amazing sight was almost the only entertainment for the local children, who spent most of their time on the roofs of houses. Here they held picnics, lovers met, and the elders of Kowloon rested in sun loungers after the labors of the righteous.

Left to the mercy of fate by the authorities, these people managed to provide themselves with the benefits of civilization: they dug 70 wells, from where water was supplied with the help of electric pumps. Electricity was simply stolen from the power grids of Hong Kong.

Sunlight did not reach the lower floors. It was always dark here, and only here and there were neon lamps burning above the signs of dentists, of whom there were a myriad of here, hairdressers and shops.

The basements were littered with rubbish, which no one cleaned up. All the collected sewage was compressed and lay in the basements constantly. There was a terrible smell everywhere, and streams of slop flowed underfoot. Strange, but in these unsanitary conditions, teeth were treated, ate in cafes and food was bought not only by the locals, but also by the inhabitants of prosperous Hong Kong, who were attracted by low prices in Kowloon.

In the late 1980s, the Hong Kong administration, as a result of agreements with China, received permission to demolish the ugly quarter. In 1992-93, instead of the demolished slums, the residents of Kowloon received comfortable apartments in Hong Kong. However, neither comfortable housing nor monetary compensation could keep the aborigines, accustomed to lawlessness, from disgruntled protests.

Kowloon ceased to exist in 1994. In its place, several stones from old buildings were preserved and a park was laid out, the alleys of which are called old streets.

Kowloon (Hong Kong, China): detailed description, address and photo. Opportunities for sports and recreation, infrastructure, cafes and restaurants in the park. Reviews of tourists.

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In boiling Hong Kong, in the Kowloon area, there is a park lush with greenery with flowers, waterfalls, colorful buildings - a real oasis in the middle of the metropolis. But people come here not only to enjoy peace and quiet: the park is laid out on the site of the legendary fortress city, which for years has inspired terror and awe among tourists and residents of the surrounding area. It is hard to imagine, but chaos reigned here until recently: the insane heap of shabby high-rise buildings, stitched together in the manner of Brazilian favelas, was the abode of poverty, prostitution and drug trafficking.

A bit of history

It all began during the Song Dynasty, between 960 and 1279, with the construction of an outpost that controlled the salt trade. The garrison gradually expanded, fenced off from the world with a fortress wall, and at the end of the 19th century, with the coming to power of the British, it was proclaimed a Chinese enclave. In the 1930s. the old buildings began to be demolished, and in the 1950s the walled city was taken over by the triads - the crime syndicates of Hong Kong.

And here the chaos began: in a small territory, beggarly high-rises grew by leaps and bounds, and soon the population of Kowloon reached 50 thousand people - it became the most densely populated area of ​​the planet. Moreover, the audience gathered a specific one - drug addicts, robbers, prostitutes, gamblers and simply those who had nowhere to go. Only in the 1980s. the Chinese authorities took hold of their heads and demolished the ill-fated settlement, creating in its place something completely opposite in atmosphere.

What to see

Park "Fenced City" with an area of ​​31 thousand square meters. m is divided into 8 well-kept areas. The 19th century southern gate and the yamen building, an example of traditional Chinese architecture, a public place like a magistrate, remind of bygone times. The Chess Garden features huge chess boards made of pebbles and porcelain, and the Zodiac Garden is guarded by 12 white stone sculptures.

Flower zone - 8 variegated paths with magnolias, myrtles, banana trees and other plants.

The Kui-hsing pavilion is dedicated to the Chinese god of literature, the pearl of the Rock Garden is the Guimi stone, symbolizing the return of Hong Kong to China. The Four Seasons Garden was once occupied by Guan Yin Square, the only open space in Kowloon. And you can learn about the city-fortress itself in educational pavilions with photographs, plans and models of a giant "communal beehive".

Practical information

Address: Hong Kong, Tung Tau Tsuen, Kowloon Walled City Park.

How to get there: Walk from Lok Fu metro station, exits A and B.

Opening hours: daily from 6:30 to 23:00. The pavilions are open from 10:00 to 18:00 all week except Wednesday.

The city of Kowloon has been haunted by the authorities and respectable people of Hong Kong for several decades. For a long time, about 30 thousand people huddled on a 2.6 hectare site. Drug addiction flourished here and triads ruled, and representatives of the law preferred to bypass the area.

History of Kowloon Walled City

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

The fighting did not last long. Within a few months, the city of Kowloon, where the fort was located, and which was previously owned by China, passed to the British department as a colony. Agree to the authorities different states succeeded at the end of the 19th century, when in 1898 a new agreement was drawn up. The agreement stipulated that the British could be stationed on the territory of the peninsula, but only as long as it 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 a small territory remained in the center of the British colony, which was under the jurisdiction of the eastern authorities. Then only watchtowers and barracks were located here, and the population was about 700 people. Less than a century later, the walled city of Kowloon turned into an autonomous region, in which 33 thousand inhabitants found shelter.

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

Over time, the British came to terms with this neighborhood and stopped interfering in Kowloon's affairs. 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, already by the 50s, local residents practically did not obey anyone, considering themselves almost a separate state.

Crime

Kowloon in Hong Kong became the place where the triads ruled. Among several criminal groups, the 2 strongest 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 kinds of vices flourished here. Prostitution, drug addiction, gambling establishments - in Kowloon one could get any forbidden pleasure.

Almost 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 from time to time tried to restore order, but this practically did not give any result. It was only in the 70s that a massive sweep was carried out here. The police seized tons of drugs, organized more than 2 thousand arrests. This put an end to the rule of the triads, but did not affect general level life.

Interior interior

By 1987, the city reached a record high in terms of population density. More than 30 thousand people lived here. There was a catastrophic lack of space, so the residents were constantly completing something. They carried out all the construction work independently, which influenced how Kowloon looked as a result.

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 close buildings. The internal structure of the former fort was characterized by the following distinctive features:

• houses grew up, floor by floor, but no more than 14 were built. This is due to the ban of the Hong Kong authorities. The airport was located in the immediate vicinity of the territory. The planes were landing on a dangerous trajectory. A few more floors could lead to a plane crash;
• neither in the 60s, nor in the 80s, cars appeared on the streets. It was simply impossible. All the free space was used only for the construction of houses. People were forced to move through tight dark nooks and crannies in which it was easy to get lost;
• there was no street lighting as such. There were practically no lanterns, and the cramped streets were lit only by neon signs.

Water supply

When Kowloon was just settling in and building 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 local residents. They dug wells on their own. There were several dozen of them on the territory of the city.

Fact. In the future, the authorities decided to install water pumps, from which water was supplied to houses using pumps. This happened in the 60s of the 20th century. Until this time, the triads 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 could solve the problem of water supply, then with electricity it was even easier. People were illegally connecting to electrical grids. There were enough specialists among the locals who helped to carry out illegal actions. Used candles, even burned fires. This has caused fires on several occasions.

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.

Everyday life

Since the population density was catastrophic, few could afford a spacious home. Most of the residents settled in apartments with an area of ​​up to 20 square meters. In a small area, both the bedroom and the kitchen were located, and sometimes preschool and educational institutions that appeared spontaneously.

Historical information and photos show that people preferred to spend a significant part of their free time on rooftops. Here there was access to fresh air and sun, and, therefore, the opportunity to escape at least for a while from the familiar tight environment. No one was embarrassed by the fact that dumps were often organized on the roofs, since the locals had no choice.

Factories and factories in the fortress

By the 60s and 70s, Kowloon had become a secluded enclave that could supply the inhabitants with almost anything. It had its own industry:

• food;
• haberdashery;
• easy.

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

Medicine and services

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

The buildings housed numerous public catering establishments, which offered to try forbidden dishes from cats and dogs. There were many hairdressers and even cartographers making maps of the intricate labyrinths of the former fortress. Tourists were attracted by illegal casinos and brothels.

The 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 were given the right to demolish the area that had an eyesore.

Demolition began directly only in the early 90s. Residents of the town 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, cramped conditions or unsanitary conditions. However, the authorities were determined and already in 1992 began to demolish the buildings. The process ended quickly enough.

Modern city fortress

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

• the territory of the green zone repeats the outlines of the former enclave;
• a memorial has been erected here, which houses the exact model of Kowloon;
• Designed in accordance with the Qing Dynasty style;
• 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 inscribed stones and several old wells have survived, with the help of which people received water.

Today, the green area is a favorite recreation place 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 the residence where the Mandarin once lived. Yamen is an amazing building, since it was built back in 1847, and has survived to this day. It is the only one to have survived numerous destruction and demolitions.

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

Old south gate

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

Other areas of the park

Visitors are attracted by the carefully planned design of the green area. Here are the classic Chinese pavilions, and the park itself is divided into zones:

• garden of four seasons;
• the garden of the signs of the zodiac;
• the 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 are one today. However, until recently, these two cities were inhabited by representatives of completely alien cultures. Some deliberately abandoned the benefits of civilization for the freedom to live the way they want, others chose to follow the path of development.

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

Hundreds of high-rise buildings close to each other, narrow passages between them, who did not know the sunlight, children, for lack of an alternative, played on the roofs of buildings, the kingdom of secret triads, opium dens and houses of tolerance. In 1987, about 33 thousand people lived here on a small area of ​​2.6 hectares. This area of ​​Hong Kong has already become history, but at the same time it has remained a model of how monstrous compaction can go. The striking fate of the walled city of Kowloon in our review.

1.1841 Great Britain is waging a successful war against the Chinese Qing empire. At the heart of the conflict is the desire of the British crown to sell more and more opium to the local people on the one hand and the audacious decision of certain Chinese officials to ban the import of Bengal drugs into the Middle Kingdom, on the other.

2. One of the episodes of that long history, which naturally ended in favor of the white man carrying his burden with fire and sword, was the landing of a British landing on the island of Hong Kong and the neighboring Kowloon Peninsula. On the peninsula, the British found only a small town of the same name Kowloon (translated as "Nine Dragons") and a fortified fort that served as the residence of the local Mandarin. As a result of this First Opium War in 1842, the British ceded the island of Hong Kong, and in 1898 a new convention was concluded, expanding the jurisdiction of the empire, over which the sun never sets, to the peninsula (the so-called "New Territories"). Under the terms of the agreement, which, as practice showed, was rigorously observed, Hong Kong and Kowloon were leased by the UK for the next 99 years under one small circumstance that had big consequences.

3. This circumstance is marked on the map above as Chinese Town ("Chinese city", upper right corner). According to the 1898 convention, the very fortified fort where the Chinese officials lived was excluded from the lease agreement. It continued to be the territory of the Qing Empire, forming a kind of enclave in the British colony. In those years, of course, no one could have imagined that a few decades later this fact would lead to the formation in Hong Kong of a quarter that has no equal on the third planet from the Sun in terms of population density.

5. The extraterritoriality of the walled city of Kowloon was only nominal. In fact, the control over the fort, surrounded by powerful walls, was exercised by the British. During World War II, the Japanese occupied the peninsula, who dismantled the walls of the fortress and used stone from them to expand the military airfield, which later turned into Kai Tak for many years, the main airport in Hong Kong, one of the most dangerous in the world.

7. It all started after the end of World War II. De jure, the fortress city of Kowloon, albeit without fortress walls, continued to remain the territory of China, surrounded on all sides by the British colony. In fact, the laws and the administration of Hong Kong did not operate here, its residents did not pay taxes to anyone.

Kowloon became a real black hole, a promised land for refugees from the "mainland" fleeing the civil war in China, where in the second half of the 1940s the Communist People's Liberation Army was driving Kuomintang puppets away from the future territory of the People's Republic of China.

8. The territory of the former fort began to flock en masse, first hundreds, then thousands, eventually turning into tens of thousands of squatters who took advantage of Kowloon's status to start a new life formally still in China, but in fact, in the same Hong Kong, using all of it benefits, but at the same time existing almost completely independently.

Any attempts by the British administration to prevent spontaneous construction on a small speck 210 meters long and 120 meters wide encountered resistance not only by local residents, but also by the PRC government, which threatened a diplomatic conflict in the event of any action by the Hong Kong authorities in the territory they considered theirs.

9. By the end of the 1960s, according to some estimates, up to 20 thousand people lived on an area of ​​2.6 hectares. Of course, no one can give an exact figure: it was impossible to keep any records of the residents of the fortified city.

10. These tens of thousands of people have demonstrated miracles of survival and adaptation in an essentially anarchic society. No central water supply? No problem. 70 wells were dug, water from which was delivered by electric pumps to the roofs of buildings, and from there, through a labyrinth of countless pipes, it was sent to consumers' apartments. Out of electricity? Among the residents of the quarter, there were many employees of the Hong Kong Electric company, who perfectly knew how to illegally connect to the Hong Kong power grid and helped their neighbors in this.

11. The inhabitants of Kowloon also built themselves. First, one-, two- and three-story houses appeared on the territory of the fortress city, which had been successfully cleared of pre-war buildings by the bombing of Allied aircraft. Then, as the population of the district increased, the number of storeys began to grow rapidly. The building density also grew. This is how Kowloon has changed over the decades.

16. Virtually any vacant lot within the boundaries approved by the 1898 convention received its own high-rise building. Only a small spot in the center of the quarter remained relatively vacant, where the yamen, the residence of the mandarin, is one of the rare relics that still remind of the previous history of Kowloon.

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

21. In fact, there were no streets inside the block. There were passages forming a network so intricate for the uninitiated that a stranger who got here quickly lost orientation in space. The buildings were so dense, and the space of the Klondike of anarchism so valuable that high-rise buildings often hung over the aisles, not letting in sunlight.

23. On the other hand, there were no cars inside the block, only hundreds of meters, kilometers of a labyrinth of narrow alleys.

24. The aisles were lit only by rare lanterns and glowing neon signs of countless shops, shops, hairdressing salons, doctors' offices, which occupied all the first floors of buildings.

25. Only one dentist worked here about a hundred, and they had no end of clients. The absence of the need to obtain a medical license and pay taxes to anyone made it possible to keep the prices for services at a level that was inaccessible to their colleagues from Hong Kong, who work on a neighboring, but already "civilized" street.

27. Various small handicraft industries were also located here. Kowloon had its own industry: food, haberdashery, light. In fact, it was a city within a city, in many ways capable of existing autonomously.

29. The quarter even had several of its own kindergartens and schools, although mostly, of course, older family members looked after the little children, and somehow it was possible to get older children to go to Hong Kong schools. There were no sports grounds, clubs, cinemas. In fact, roofs became a space for socialization and recreation of the inhabitants of the area, where one could find at least some free space.

30. Children played and grew up here, their parents met and talked, the older generation sat at a game of mahjong.

31. Huge planes flew over the rooftops, which were within easy reach. The specificity of the approach to landing at Kai Tak airport, the very one for the construction of which the fortress walls of Kowloon went, required the pilots to make a dangerous as well as a spectacular turn just before landing.

32. It began at an altitude of 200 meters, and ended already at 40, and somewhere in the middle of this most difficult maneuver for pilots was Kowloon, bristling like rotten teeth, high-rise buildings. It was because of this neighborhood that the height of the buildings in the quarter was limited to 14 floors - almost the only requirement of the Hong Kong administration, which the residents of the fortified city fulfilled. In return, they received an amazing and completely free sight right over their heads.

34. In the first decades of the transformation of the old Chinese fortress into a sleeping area with its own special flavor, the only real force there were triads - secret criminal organizations that were widespread in pre-war China.

35. Taking advantage of the lack of interest in the district on the part of the Hong Kong administration and its law enforcement agencies, they turned the area, which had just begun to grow, into a nest of various vices. In Kowloon, gambling establishments, brothels, and opium dens literally flourished.

36. One of the Chinese writers described Kowloon of those years in his book "City of Darkness": entrances, and children's playgrounds at night turn into a dance floor for strippers. "

39. Only in the mid-1970s, the Hong Kong authorities, finally deciding that they had enough to endure it, and secured the approval of the PRC government, carried out a grandiose series of police raids, which ended in the actual expulsion of all organized crime groups from Kowloon.

40. Despite his brutal appearance, the area was quite a calm place in terms of crime.

41. In the same years, centralized water and electricity supply and sewerage finally appeared here, and mail began to be delivered to Kowloon.

44. But these important changes for the better, which turned the fortress city into a more or less convenient place to live, were not reflected in the appearance of Kowloon in any way. The anarchy continued here, unauthorized structures grew, there could be no talk of any major overhaul of buildings or at least cosmetic renovation of the facades. The quarter went down in history just like that.

48. Most of the residents huddled in small apartments with an average area of ​​23 square meters. m. Distribution received a variety of extensions to the external and internal facades of buildings. They finally merged, in the area even a second, parallel to the ground, system of transitions was formed already at a certain height from the ground. Kowloon turned into a single whole organism, a huge "communal apartment", a building-city, as if it had come to the present from the post-apocalyptic future.

51. In 1987, the Governments of Great Britain and the PRC entered into an agreement that settled Kowloon's status in the light of Hong Kong's impending return to Chinese jurisdiction in 10 years. The administration of the British colony finally got the right to demolish the quarter that disfigured its face.

53. Demolition began in 1992-1993. All residents received either monetary compensation for the move, or apartments in Hong Kong's modern new buildings that were growing by leaps and bounds. And all the same, the process of destruction of this anarchist relic, which was born almost a century ago, was accompanied by violent protests of the aborigines, who did not want to be deprived of their habitual freedom and way of life.

56. Nevertheless, Kowloon was doomed. It was quickly demolished, but the deserted area, and so regularly caught the lens of filmmakers, managed to "light up" in the 1993 film Crime Story, in which the hero of Jackie Chan fights the kidnappers of a Hong Kong businessman.

57. One of the key episodes of the film was filmed in Kowloon, and the impending liquidation allowed the creators of the action movie to shoot several spectacular scenes with the explosions of residential buildings in the fortified city.

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

62. In 1987, when the Hong Kong administration and the PRC government entered into an agreement that doomed the area to destruction, a study was carried out 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 for the density of population on Earth.

64. For comparison: if Kowloon had an area of ​​1 sq. km, 1.27 million people were supposed to live here. And if Moscow became Kowloon with its area of ​​about 2500 sq. km, then almost 3.2 billion people would live in the Russian capital, that is, the entire population of China, India, USA and Indonesia combined.