Chungking Mansions
Encyclopedia
Chungking Mansions, is a building located at 36–44 Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui
, Kowloon
, Hong Kong. The building is well known as nearly the cheapest accommodation in Hong Kong. Though the building is supposedly residential, it is made up of many independent low-budget hotels, shops, and other services. The unusual atmosphere of the building is sometimes compared to that of Kowloon Walled City
.
Chungking Mansions features guesthouses, curry
restaurants, African bistros, clothing shops, sari
stores, and foreign exchange
offices. It often acts as a large gathering place for some of the ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, particularly South Asians
(Indians
, Nepal
ese, Pakistanis
, Bangladesh
is and Sri Lanka
ns), Middle Eastern people, Nigeria
ns, Europeans, Americans, and many other peoples of the world. Peter Shadbolt of CNN
stated that the complex was the "unofficial African quarter of Hong Kong."
The building was completed in 1961, at which time Chinese residents predominated. Now, after more than four decades of use, there are an estimated 4,000 people living in the Mansions.
Chungking Mansions is 17 stories tall and consists of five blocks, A, B, C, D and E.
There are two lifts in each block, one of which serves even-numbered floors, the other one odd-numbered floors. A CCTV camera system exists at the ground floor level for each of the lift cars.
The first two floors are however common space where you can wander around under the blocks, the third floor is actually a terrace level between the blocks where the tower blocks rise out of the base of the building and all floors above this are accessible only by the stairways and lifts contained in each block.
The separate mall a few metres to the north of the main entrance however protrudes into the 3rd floor of block A and B.
. Several airport buses run by it (A21 No14-Bus Stop).
Kowloon Park
is anchored by a Mosque
and this structure and the park itself is a popular refuge from the crowding of the Chungking Mansions and the surrounding area. The Hong Kong Cultural Centre
including the Museum of Art
is conveniently close by.
Chungking Mansions contains the largest number of guesthouses in Hong Kong in one building, with 1980 rooms in total. Since it offers some of the cheapest rates in town, it has become a legendary haunt for backpackers and budget travellers.
Many shops in the building are import/export businesses dealing in parallel goods
that are predominantly sold to Asian and African countries. On the main floors as well as on upper floors in the towers, there are many restaurants that attract visitors from all over the world. For example, some small and family-run Indian and Pakistan
i restaurants with traditional Indian curry and Nepalese food
are very well known. Due to competition between the very large number of restaurants inside the Mansions that are similar in style, many of them send staff to distribute leaflets on the streets to aggressively promote their restaurants.
There are many money changers located in the lower floors of Chungking Mansions who provide exchange services to the high number of people from all over the world living or doing business here.
Shops in the arcade sell not only traditional items from all over the world, but also trendy goods. Some of the shops found in the Mansions are different from those that are outside on the streets, selling articles which are imported from Asia and Africa. Computers, DVDs and VCDs, clothing, and some traditional snacks from foreign countries can be found inside Chungking Mansions.
In 1993, the power and water supplies were suspended for 10 days owing to an explosion in the power supply room. This event made the owners and residents there no longer able to ignore the poor maintenance inside the building.
In 1995, Chungking Mansions made local newspaper headlines when Sushila Pandey, a 37-year-old Indian tourist, was killed in the building by her Sri Lankan partner Attanayake Wasala Dangamuwa, 54.
It is also known to be a centre of drugs, as well as a refuge for petty criminals, scammers, and illegal immigrants. For example, in a Police swoop in June 1995, about 1,750 people were questioned, and 45 men and seven women from various Asian and African countries were arrested on suspicion of offenses including failing to produce proof of identity, overstaying, using forged travel documents, possessing equipment for forging documents and possessing dangerous drugs. In "Operation Sahara" in 1996, 52 men and seven women from 14 countries were arrested for violating immigration regulations.
In order to best deal with the safety concern of the building, the owners' corporation of Chungking Mansions established a HKD$13 million renovation fund in 1999. A total of 208 CCTVs were installed throughout the building in 2004 and placed under the central control of a security company. Chungking Mansions also hires security guards and cleaning workers to patrol the building night and day and to ensure the cleanliness of the building. Fire facilities were also improved with more signs and equipment. From time to time, police officers and immigration officers check the identity of the people inside the building in order to crack down on drug-trafficking, overstaying and other criminal offenses. With all this effort the security and environment in Chungking Mansions have been improving significantly.
had passed through Chungking Mansions at some point.
With this lively mix of guest workers, mainlanders, local Chinese, tourists and backpackers
, the Chungking neighbourhood is one of the most culturally diverse locations in Hong Kong. Chungking Mansions was elected as the "Best Example of Globalization in Action" by TIME Magazine in its annual feature "The Best of Asia", although racial tensions are known to boil over occasionally.
s for Wong Kar-wai
's 1994 movie Chungking Express
, and is referenced in the title.
Chungking Mansions also featured in National Geographic's Locked Up Abroad, as the location where four young men were sent to rendezvous with gold smugglers
. They were contracted to be mules
, carrying 60 or more pounds of gold into Nepal
.
In Michael Connelly
's novel 9 Dragons
, detective Harry Bosch travels from Los Angeles to Hong Kong's Kowloon district in search of his missing daughter. Chungking Mansions is described by a character in the novel as a "post-modern Casablanca
— all in one building."
The Economist compared it to the Spaceport Cantina
in the original Star Wars
and quotes anthropologist Gordon Mathews: "whereas the illegalities in Chungking Mansions are widely known, the wondrousness of the place is not."
Tsim Sha Tsui
Tsim Sha Tsui , often abbreviated as TST, is an urbanized area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hung Hom Bay now east of Tsim Sha Tsui...
, Kowloon
Kowloon
Kowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of...
, Hong Kong. The building is well known as nearly the cheapest accommodation in Hong Kong. Though the building is supposedly residential, it is made up of many independent low-budget hotels, shops, and other services. The unusual atmosphere of the building is sometimes compared to that of Kowloon Walled City
Kowloon Walled City
Kowloon Walled City was a densely populated, largely ungoverned settlement in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Originally a Chinese military fort, the Walled City became an enclave after the New Territories were leased to Britain in 1898....
.
Chungking Mansions features guesthouses, curry
Curry
Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...
restaurants, African bistros, clothing shops, sari
Sari
A sari or sareeThe name of the garment in various regional languages include: , , , , , , , , , , , , , is a strip of unstitched cloth, worn by females, ranging from four to nine metres in length that is draped over the body in various styles. It is popular in India, Bangladesh, Nepal,...
stores, and foreign exchange
Foreign exchange market
The foreign exchange market is a global, worldwide decentralized financial market for trading currencies. Financial centers around the world function as anchors of trading between a wide range of different types of buyers and sellers around the clock, with the exception of weekends...
offices. It often acts as a large gathering place for some of the ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, particularly South Asians
South Asians in Hong Kong
Hong Kong has a long-established South Asian population. As of the 2006 by-census, there were at least 44,744 persons of South Asian descent in Hong Kong. Many trace their roots in Hong Kong as far back as when most of the Indian subcontinent was still under British colonial rule, and as a legacy...
(Indians
Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin
A Non-Resident Indian is an Indian citizen who has migrated to another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India, or a person of Indian origin who resides permanently outside India. Other terms with the same meaning are overseas Indian and expatriate Indian...
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
ese, Pakistanis
Pakistani diaspora
The Pakistani diaspora, or an overseas Pakistani is a Pakistani citizen who has migrated to another country or a person of Pakistani origin who is born outside Pakistan. There are approximately 7 million Pakistanis living abroad...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
is and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
ns), Middle Eastern people, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
ns, Europeans, Americans, and many other peoples of the world. Peter Shadbolt of CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
stated that the complex was the "unofficial African quarter of Hong Kong."
The building was completed in 1961, at which time Chinese residents predominated. Now, after more than four decades of use, there are an estimated 4,000 people living in the Mansions.
Building structure and housing
There are two lifts in each block, one of which serves even-numbered floors, the other one odd-numbered floors. A CCTV camera system exists at the ground floor level for each of the lift cars.
The first two floors are however common space where you can wander around under the blocks, the third floor is actually a terrace level between the blocks where the tower blocks rise out of the base of the building and all floors above this are accessible only by the stairways and lifts contained in each block.
The separate mall a few metres to the north of the main entrance however protrudes into the 3rd floor of block A and B.
Rooms
As mentioned, rooms and or floors are individually owned and managed. Space is at a minimum. Most rooms have one or two beds, a small TV, an "all in one Toilet/Shower" and a small closet. The beds are hard with a thin mattress and a small pillow. Most if not all rooms are equipped with an Air Conditioner.Location
Chungking Mansions is located in one of the busiest districts of Hong Kong; it is very close to the Tsim Sha Tsui Station, and the East Tsim Sha Tsui Station of the MTRMTR
Mass Transit Railway is the rapid transit railway system in Hong Kong. Originally opened in 1979, the system now includes 211.6 km of rail with 155 stations, including 86 railway stations and 69 light rail stops...
. Several airport buses run by it (A21 No14-Bus Stop).
Kowloon Park
Kowloon Park
Kowloon Park is a large public park in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong. It is managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.-History:...
is anchored by a Mosque
Kowloon Masjid and Islamic Centre
Kowloon Masjid and Islamic Centre or Kowloon Mosque and Islamic Centre is one of the four principal mosques in Hong Kong. Located in Kowloon at the corner of Nathan Road and Haiphong Road next to Kowloon Park, the Mosque is currently the largest Islamic house of worship in the city...
and this structure and the park itself is a popular refuge from the crowding of the Chungking Mansions and the surrounding area. The Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Hong Kong Cultural Centre
The Hong Kong Cultural Centre is a multipurpose performance facility in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Hong Kong. Located at Salisbury Road, it was founded by the former Urban Council and, after 2000, is administered by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong Government...
including the Museum of Art
Hong Kong Museum of Art
The Hong Kong Museum of Art is the main art museum of Hong Kong. The museum was established as the City Hall Museum and Art Gallery in the City Hall in Central by the Urban Council in 1962. In 1991, it was moved to the present premises at 10 Salisbury Road, near the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and...
is conveniently close by.
Businesses
While Chungking Mansions is designated for residential use, the building includes a wide variety of commercial establishments.Chungking Mansions contains the largest number of guesthouses in Hong Kong in one building, with 1980 rooms in total. Since it offers some of the cheapest rates in town, it has become a legendary haunt for backpackers and budget travellers.
Mall
The mall was closed in 1998. In 2003, the first and second floors were acquired by a developer for approximately HK$200 million, and spent HK$50 million on renovations. Under the new building plan, the 50000 square feet (4,645.2 m²) second floor was divided into 360 small shops measuring 50 to 500 sq ft (46.5 m²) each and resold. The new "Chungking Express" mall was relaunched at the end of 2004.Many shops in the building are import/export businesses dealing in parallel goods
Grey market
A grey market or gray market also known as parallel market is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels which, while legal, are unofficial, unauthorized, or unintended by the original manufacturer...
that are predominantly sold to Asian and African countries. On the main floors as well as on upper floors in the towers, there are many restaurants that attract visitors from all over the world. For example, some small and family-run Indian and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i restaurants with traditional Indian curry and Nepalese food
Nepalese cuisine
Nepalese cuisine refers to the cuisines of Nepal. The cultural and geographic diversity of Nepal provide ample space for a variety of cuisines based on ethnicity, soil and climate. Nevertheless dal-bhat-tarkari is eaten throughout the country. Dal is a soup made of lentils and spices...
are very well known. Due to competition between the very large number of restaurants inside the Mansions that are similar in style, many of them send staff to distribute leaflets on the streets to aggressively promote their restaurants.
There are many money changers located in the lower floors of Chungking Mansions who provide exchange services to the high number of people from all over the world living or doing business here.
Shops in the arcade sell not only traditional items from all over the world, but also trendy goods. Some of the shops found in the Mansions are different from those that are outside on the streets, selling articles which are imported from Asia and Africa. Computers, DVDs and VCDs, clothing, and some traditional snacks from foreign countries can be found inside Chungking Mansions.
Public safety
The age of the building, the diverse ownership and management structure are causes of the building's reputation for being a fire trap. Unsanitary conditions, security, ancient electrical wiring and blocked staircases all contribute to the hazards. On 21 February 1988, a fire broke out in the building. A Danish tourist who was trapped inside was killed. The fire in this building, as well as a blaze in a similar building, provoked a review of rules and regulations concerning public safety.In 1993, the power and water supplies were suspended for 10 days owing to an explosion in the power supply room. This event made the owners and residents there no longer able to ignore the poor maintenance inside the building.
In 1995, Chungking Mansions made local newspaper headlines when Sushila Pandey, a 37-year-old Indian tourist, was killed in the building by her Sri Lankan partner Attanayake Wasala Dangamuwa, 54.
It is also known to be a centre of drugs, as well as a refuge for petty criminals, scammers, and illegal immigrants. For example, in a Police swoop in June 1995, about 1,750 people were questioned, and 45 men and seven women from various Asian and African countries were arrested on suspicion of offenses including failing to produce proof of identity, overstaying, using forged travel documents, possessing equipment for forging documents and possessing dangerous drugs. In "Operation Sahara" in 1996, 52 men and seven women from 14 countries were arrested for violating immigration regulations.
In order to best deal with the safety concern of the building, the owners' corporation of Chungking Mansions established a HKD$13 million renovation fund in 1999. A total of 208 CCTVs were installed throughout the building in 2004 and placed under the central control of a security company. Chungking Mansions also hires security guards and cleaning workers to patrol the building night and day and to ensure the cleanliness of the building. Fire facilities were also improved with more signs and equipment. From time to time, police officers and immigration officers check the identity of the people inside the building in order to crack down on drug-trafficking, overstaying and other criminal offenses. With all this effort the security and environment in Chungking Mansions have been improving significantly.
Melting pot
CUHK anthropologist Prof. Gordon Mathews estimates that people from at least 120 different nationalities have passed through Chungking Mansions in the past year. Mathews also estimates that up to 20 percent of the mobile phones recently in use in sub-Saharan AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
had passed through Chungking Mansions at some point.
With this lively mix of guest workers, mainlanders, local Chinese, tourists and backpackers
Backpacking (travel)
Backpacking is a term that has historically been used to denote a form of low-cost, independent international travel. Terms such as independent travel and/or budget travel are often used...
, the Chungking neighbourhood is one of the most culturally diverse locations in Hong Kong. Chungking Mansions was elected as the "Best Example of Globalization in Action" by TIME Magazine in its annual feature "The Best of Asia", although racial tensions are known to boil over occasionally.
Cultural references
Chungking Mansions served as one of the filming locationFilming location
A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage...
s for Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai BBS is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylized, emotionally resonant work, including Days of Being Wild , Ashes of Time , Chungking Express , Fallen Angels , Happy Together and 2046...
's 1994 movie Chungking Express
Chungking Express
Chungking Express is a 1994 Hong Kong film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. The film consists of two stories told in sequence, each about a lovesick Hong Kong policeman mulling over his relationship with a woman...
, and is referenced in the title.
Chungking Mansions also featured in National Geographic's Locked Up Abroad, as the location where four young men were sent to rendezvous with gold smugglers
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
. They were contracted to be mules
Mule (smuggling)
A mule or courier is someone who smuggles something with him or her across a national border, including bringing in to and out of an international plane, especially a small amount, transported for a smuggling organization. The organizers employ mules to reduce the risk of getting caught...
, carrying 60 or more pounds of gold into Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
.
In Michael Connelly
Michael Connelly
Michael Connelly is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. His books, which have been translated into 36 languages, have garnered him many awards...
's novel 9 Dragons
9 Dragons (novel)
9 Dragons is the 14th novel in the Harry Bosch series and the 22nd book by American crime author Michael Connelly. It was released worldwide on October 13, 2009, although it had been released in the U.K. and Ireland on October 1....
, detective Harry Bosch travels from Los Angeles to Hong Kong's Kowloon district in search of his missing daughter. Chungking Mansions is described by a character in the novel as a "post-modern Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
— all in one building."
The Economist compared it to the Spaceport Cantina
Mos Eisley Cantina
The Chalmun's Cantina is a fictional bar of the Star Wars universe located in the "pirate city" of Mos Eisley on the planet Tatooine...
in the original Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
and quotes anthropologist Gordon Mathews: "whereas the illegalities in Chungking Mansions are widely known, the wondrousness of the place is not."
External links
- Chungking Mansions
- Video briefly exploring Chunking Mansions
- US-China Today article about Chungking Mansions.
- http://www.economist.com/node/21526300?fsrc=rss|bar Article about Chungking Mansions. The Economist-August 2011.