A prayer wall located in the garden.
I’ve been eager to write Kowloon Walled City for a while. It was one of the main reasons I wanted to re-visit Hong Kong,
A photo of the cannons from the gatehouse laying discarded after the Japanese had demolished the gatehouse.
Ahhhh the Cannons!
The gate to the Bonsai Garden
The Bonsai Garden Dragon
The cannons, and the historical display
The Kowloon Walled City map and model
A closer look at the model
Kowloon Walled City – circa 1992
Side view: Kowloon Walled City.
A snippet from a poster detailing life in Kowloon Walled City
Some of the children of Kowloon Walled City
Yes, even haircuts.
A postman walks one of the darkened streets of the city.
The book can be acquired directly from the author here
A cross section of the Japanese map. Click to enlarge
The Filthy Platen 
Absolutely fascinating.
It makes it even better that the whole place is now a lovely park instead of just being just built over again. You can never have enough parks.
LikeLike
While I agree, it does mean that there’s an expensive reminder of what kind of community used to live here. This would have been a very tight community once, that has been moved. That said, it is a great place to visit.
LikeLike
The wonderful garden looks like a great tranquil place to sit and think, read, write, relax, and type. I do not know though if I were there I’d want to break the silence or natural sounds of the garden with the clack ding zing of a typewriter.
I can not even imagine what it would be like to live in such an over crowded place like the walled city.
I agree with Nick, it is a better place being such a fantastic part rather than being filled with more buildings. The latter would be what happens in the USA.
LikeLike
I think that life in the city would have been so removed from what we are used to, that it would be hard to even imagine. But it would have been a very vibrant community though.
LikeLike
Incredible, I’d never even heard of it before! Watching the German doco it gives you a picture of what a Dickensian slum must have been like. Restaurant food must have taken a price hike after they demolished the city!
LikeLike
Ha ha. I reckon it did! I can see what you mean by Dickensian. It is a way of life that is rather contrary to our regulated and ruled structure of today.
LikeLike
Thank you. What a fascinating place! A real experiment in no-man’s-land.
What is reminds me of is actually Edinburgh — another place that was traditionally tightly confined and had to grow both upwards and downwards. You find underground rooms and buildings that were skyscrapers by 18th and 19th century standards.
LikeLike
That’s an interesting point. I had heard of such things, but I have not read much about them. Richard, I think you may have fueled my next internet obsession.
LikeLike
wow. those illustrations of the city are fascinating. No wonder William Gibson had a thing for the walled city; it’s like a compressed novel in building form. Or like Wong Kar-wai’s ‘In the Mood for Love’.
LikeLike
Absolutely! It is incredible.Just thinking about the structure of the buildings implies some immensely epic drama – even before you get to the people inside!
LikeLike
Great write-up, Scott! Would have been fascinating to have visited this Walled City. Kowloon was the setting for one of Robert Ludlum’s Bourne novels. I’ve been curious about Kowloon ever since.
LikeLike
Thanks Teeritz. I’ve found all kinds of videos, stories and photos over the years depicting life in the city.
Actually, I think you’d really love Kowloon. If you ever get the chance, go visit!
LikeLike
Amazing! They should get that cross section map as some kind of wallpaper. You can look at it for hours and still not be done.
LikeLike
I wish they did that mural in poster form that you could put up on your own wills. It would be great!
LikeLike
Pingback: Ghost In The Shell (2017) a primer for the typosphere. | The Filthy Platen