Kowloon Walled City Park
Once Infamous, now famous
In contrast to Hong Kong’s many other parks with their attractions and recreational facilities, Kowloon Walled City Park, opened in 1995, strives to be mainly one thing: a recreation of a classical Southern Chinese garden from the early Qing dynasty (1644-1911). In that it succeeds, with paths leading past beautifully landscaped grounds accented with artificial hills, ponds, streams, boulders, bonsai, flowers, and pavilions.
Luckily, the park pays tribute, too, to its long history, described in the Yamen (former almshouse), beginning in 1847 when the Chinese constructed a massive stone fort here to defend Kowloon from the British. The British, after acquiring Kowloon following the second opium war, expelled the 500 or so soldiers and officers living in the fort.
The site, however, went on to became a notorious no-man’s land, governed by neither the British nor the Chinese and growing into a labyrinth of tenements occupied by squatters, misfits, criminals, gangs, prostitutes, drug addicts and the poor. The enclave was torn down in 1994 to make way for the park, but remnants of its former life remain, including the fort’s south gate. For insight into what it was like to live in the former Walled City, be sure to visit the small exhibition rooms behind the Yamen.
Tung Tau Tsuen Rd., Hong Kong
Price: free
Hours: Daily 6.30am–11pm (Exhibitions Thurs–Tues 10am–6pm)
(852) 2716 9962
www.lcsd.gov.hk
MTR: Lok Fu