Welcome To Paradise – Chinese Crime Style!
I love travel. I love to see unique places. THIS IS SUCH A PLACE. Here is how this legendary city was described:
“It was one of the greatest unplanned wonders of the 20th century — a city of no taxes and no laws. A 6.9 acre cesspool of crime, trafficking, and unlicensed doctors that was once the most densely populated place on earth.”
Your Kowloon Dentist Will See You Now!
Welcome to Kowloon Walled City, an island of ill-repute just outside Hong Kong! It was a slice of criminal heaven that came to be after World War II, when the British and China were slicing up Hong Kong…but this area was overlooked, and became a crime-infested, mobster-controlled mecca!
Kowloon had a population of 33,000 squeezed into the tiny lot – in fact, the city was 119 times denser at its peak than present-day New York City!
Writer William O’ Connell has a fascinating article in the Daily Beast, remembering Kowloon’s sordid past – it’s a terrific piece that you can see here:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/06/26/the-lost-chinese-city-police-feared-to-enter.html
He tells the incredible story of Kowloon Walled City – and what a story it is!
“The Lego-like city was built over decades, as residents simply stacked rooms one on top of another. The end result “looked formidable,” Girard tells Tech Insider, “but who knows?”
That’s right: “Lego-like” apartments simply stacked one on top of another. This comes from Tech Insider, which also has a great memoir of the city – with tons of great photos like this:
This incredible city was a den of crime – a city SO packed with buildings that the daytime looked like THIS:
Canadian Photographer Greg Girard took these photos in the late 80’s and they are all in the Tech Insider report.
You can click here for more pics and stories!
http://www.techinsider.io/the-surreal-mania-of-chinas-kowloon-walled-city-2015-8
I love these iconic photos of a city now lost to time…as the article in The Daily Beast points out, the city was torn down in 1994 and replaced by new buildings and a park:
Kowloon may be lost forever, but there are plenty of other stories about China – for example, we have all read stories about how crowded the country is…here is an example:
A Great “Packed” Wall!
Based on when you go, the Great Wall of China is a traffic jam! Read more here:
The Chinese also love to build amazing things, like this glass bridge:
But you know happens to glass – it cracks! click here to see the cracks that formed in this bridge!
China’s Glass Bridge Cracks! World’s Most Dangerous Hiking Trail! China’s Extreme Adventures!
Even with public transportation, a very packed China is always crowded:
Click here to see the most amazing subway crowding of all time!
https://johnrieber.com/2013/07/24/chinas-mob-alert-worlds-most-crowded-subways-ever/
Just a few reasons why I have to see this place!
