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| Kowloon Walled City before remodeling. By Greg Girard and Ian Lambot. |
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| Aerial view of Kowloon Walled City in 1991. Source: Hong Kong Housing Authority via Hong Kong Public Library |
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| Aerial view of Kowloon Walled City Park nowadays. By Greg Girard and Ian Lambot. |
- Final Fight 2 (Capcom. Super Nintendo: 1993)
- Kowloon's Gate (Sony Music Entertainment. PlayStation: 1997)
- Shadow Hearts (Aruze. PlayStation 2: 2001)
- Shenmue II (Sega, Dreamcast: 2001. Xbox: 2002)
- Bujunggai (Taito, PlayStation 2: 2003)
- Stranglehold (Midway Games, Xbox 360/PlayStation 3/Microsoft Windows: 2007)
- Wet (Bethesda Software, PlayStation 3/Xbox 360: 2009)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision, Microsoft Windows/Xbox 360/PlayStation 3/Wii: 2010)
- Shadowrun: Hong Kong (Harebrained Schemes, Microsoft Windows/OS X/Linux: 2015)
- 光輝歲月 (Lakoo. iOS/Andorid: since 2015)
- Phantasmal: City of Darkness (Eyemobi Ltd. Microsoft Windows: 2016)
- 正牌龍虎門 (Gameone. Android/iOS: 2019)
Tightly-packed stacked apartments
The most astonishing feature of Kowloon Walled City was perhaps its skyline of tightly-packed stacked apartment buildings. In fact, I use the appearance of such a unique architecture group to determine whether a video game is modeling Kowloon Walled City, unless I am explicitly told so. |
| Tightly-packed stacked apartment buildings in Shenmue II |
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| Tightly-packed stacked apartment buildings in Bujungai |
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| Tightly-packed stacked apartment buildings in Call of Duty: Black Ops |
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| Tightly-packed stacked apartment buildings in Shadowrun: Hong Kong |
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| The tightly packed Kowloon Walled City (figure 2) in 正牌龍虎門 (Gameone. Android/iOS: 2019) |
Poorly-maintained alleys and staircases
For those games involving navigating in the Walled City, you would notice that for most of the time, you are under internal alleys and stairs that do not have access to air or open space. These internal pathways are usually messy, dirty or even abandoned due to the lack of motivation to improve them.Navigating hallways and doorways inside Kowloon Walled City in Kowloon's Gate
A hallway inside a Kowloon City Building in Shenmue II
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| Inside the Kowloon Fortress (modeled after Kowloon Walled City in the 1960s-1980s) of Shadow Heart |
Navigating inside Kowloon Walled City in Call of Duty: Black Ops
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| Messy, broken cables in the Kowloon Walled City of Phantasmal |
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| The messy corner in real Kowloon Walled City. Source: cityofdarkness.co.uk |
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| Poorly-built stairs in the real Kowloon Walled City. Source: cityofdarkness.co.uk |
With poorly lit, ventilated and maintained pathways, the Walled City is portrayed as a place with mythic or even supernatural power. The story of Kowloon's Gate is all about the ancient Chinese environmental philosophy Feng Shui. It is the disrupted life energy flow that makes the demolished City to show up again in the Mortal world in 1997. Feng Shui apparatuses are all around in the city. The player needs to walk through a series of hallway and doorways that appear to be warping. In Shadowrun: Hong Kong, the City is described to possess some sort of supernatural energy. The City was also the stage of video games featuring combats using supernatural power combats such as Bejingai.
In fact, the location of oldest road in the real Walled City, Lung Chun Road 龍津路, (also appeared in Kowloon's Gate) was believed to be identified by Feng Shui masters in order to capture the best possible luck.
In reality, the rooftop was where the residents used for relaxation or even homework. Note that the rooftops of different buildings are connected to one another, so you can just 'fly' from one building to another there.
The other rare open space in the Walled City was illustrated in the concept artwork of Stranglehold.
It was indeed modeling the central area of the real Kowloon Walled City. The space consists of a few short offices.
Started as a Yamen (the administrative office and/or residence of a local bureaucrat or mandarin in imperial China) in mid 18th century, the space was used since 1899 by different religiously groups as a home for the aged, a home for widows and orphans, a school and a clinic, among other things.
Fixing the Feng Shui of Kowloon Walled City in Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Fights using magical power in the Demon Mecca stage (based on Kowloon Walled City) in Bujingai
In fact, the location of oldest road in the real Walled City, Lung Chun Road 龍津路, (also appeared in Kowloon's Gate) was believed to be identified by Feng Shui masters in order to capture the best possible luck.
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| Maps of mazes in Kowloon's Gate, showing Lung Chun Road (龍津路). Source: psychelia2.com |
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| Maps of the real Kowloon Walled City displayed in Kowloon Walled City Park. |
Open space
With apartment buildings packed so tightly, one can only look for open spaces at the rooftop. In video games, the high-rise rooftop is the combat stage as in Shenmue II and Call of Duty: Black Ops.Rooftop fight in Kowloon Walled City in Shenmue II
Fight inside Kowloon Walled City in Call of Duty: Black Ops
In reality, the rooftop was where the residents used for relaxation or even homework. Note that the rooftops of different buildings are connected to one another, so you can just 'fly' from one building to another there.
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| A resident relaxing at the roottop of the real Kowloon Walled City. Source: designboom.com |
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| Children playing at the roottop of the real Kowloon Walled City. Source: cityofdarkness.co.uk |
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| Children doing homework at the roottop of the real Kowloon Walled City. Source: cityofdarkness.co.uk |
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| Concept art of Stranglehold modeling the church in the central area of Kowloon Walled City |
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| The Yamen construction, surrounded by buildings, in the middle of the Kowloon Walled City. Source: sokoreazy.com |
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| The real church in the Yamen area of the Kowloon Walled City, with its minister Issac Liu. Source: cityofdarkness.co.uk |
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| The refreshed Yamen in Kowloon Walled City Park nowadays. Source: Antiques and Monuments Offices, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Hong Kong |
Crime and triad activities
In another set of games (Final Fight 2, Shenmue II, Stranglehold and Wet), the virtual Kowloon City was modeled as a place with lots of gang fights and triad hideouts.Gang fights inside Kowloon City in Final Fight 2
Kowloon City as Triad hideout in Shenmue II
Gang combats inside Kowloon Walled City in Stranglehold
According to the testimony of a police officer here, there were indeed lots of fights among triad society members even in the 1990.
Businesses
In games such as Kowloon's Gate and Shenmue II, you could find a variety of shops in the virtual Kowloon Walled City. The opening movie of the game Kowloon's Gate brings you the best glimpse on such a variety of shops through their extruding advertising signs. Typical businesses such as eateries and theaters are there, but there are also unusual ones such as adult shops. Some businesses such as doctors and dentists were in unusual density due to no laws and order inside the walled city.Kowloon's Gate opening movie showing the variety of businesses in Kowloon Walled City.
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| The variety of shops shown up in the opening movie of Kowloon's Gate. From left to right: theatre, adult shop, clinics |
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| Concept art of 光輝歲月 showing a myriad of clinics and dentists in Kowloon Walled City |
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| The sign of a dentist inside the Kowloon Walled City of Phantasmal |
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| A dentist office in the Kowloon Fortress (modeled after Kowloon Walled City in the 1960s-1980s) of Shadow Heart |
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| Inside a dentist of Kowloon Fortress (modeled after Kowloon Walled City in the 1960s-1980s) of Shadow Heart |
In fact, according to a government statistics conducted before the Walled City was demolished, in this 2.6 hectare of land, there were 87 dentists and 63 unlicensed doctor clinics.
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| Advertising signs of doctors and dentists in the real Kowloon Walled City. By Greg Girard and Ian Lambot. |
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| Advertising signs of doctors and dentists in the real Kowloon Walled City. By Greg Girard and Ian Lambot. |
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| A cross section of the Kowloon Walled City. Source: 《大図解九龍城》, reproduced here |
Aeroplanes overhead
In Shenmue II and Call of Duty: Black Ops, one can observe aeroplanes flying over the City from time to time. |
| An aircraft flying just above Kowloon City in Shenmue II |
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| An aircraft (left) flying just above the rooftop of Kowloon Walled City in Call of Duty: Black Ops |
It was indeed happening every day throughout the day in the real Kowloon Walled City.
The British tried claiming the right to rule that exclave from time to time. In 1899, the British succeeded in getting all the Chinese officers and soldiers away from the City. The Yamen Building in the central area was used by different religious groups as a home for the aged, a home for widows and orphans, a school and a clinic, among other things.
However, any attempts of the British Hong Kong government to take over the control of the City failed, due to the opposition from the Chinese government and the Chinese living in the City. Finally in 1948, the British and the Hong Kong governments decided to give up and let it to be. Meanwhile, the Chinese officials had no way to enter the Walled City since it was surrounded by British land, not even talking about ruling it. The City thus turned out to be a power vacuum which the British government didn't want to rule, the Hong Kong government was afraid to rule, and the Chinese government had no way to rule -- not under jurisdiction of any of the three government.
With no government enforcement, the stakeholders of the Walled City including the landlords and the tenants just have no motivation to do anything beyond the bare minimum. Therefore you saw apartments and walkways that were added in an ad-hoc, unorganized manner yet working. Facilities and hygiene were not well taken care of. The only open space remained were the central Yamen area that I mentioned earlier, and the rooftop which the residents used for relaxation or even homework. Unregulated businesses, unlicensed doctors and dentists, crime and triad activities were not interrupted as long as they did not affect the living of the landlords and the tenants.
One thing to note is that even though the Hong Kong government did not enforce laws this area and collect no dues from the residents inside, there did exist limited essential government services such as water, mail and even police patrol.
The only Hong Kong law that was effectively executed in the Walled City was perhaps the one governing the height of the buildings, but again for a pragmatic reason. The City was located just 800m away from the Kai Tat Airport (1925-1998), and was close to the path that flights took to approach the airport. As a result, the buildings in the Walled City did not get more than 14 floors in order to avoid collisions with the planes, and one could observe planes flying just above him while he was in the City.
In ancient times, Kowloon Walled City was a typical small outpost and coastal fort without any wall. It was after the British occupation of Hong Kong Island in 1841 that the Qing Empire realized the importance of defensing territory. In 1846, the Qing Empire constructed a wall to enclose the area, the origin of "Walled" in the name of the place.
However, when the Japanese occupied Hong Kong during World War II, the wall was demolished and its stone were taken away to build the drainage of the Kai Tat Airport nearby.
If the wall had not been demolished, the wall and its entrance into the City would have been looked like what you saw in Shenmue II...
... but not just broken signs now.
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| An aircraft observed from the roottop of the real Kowloon Walled City. Source: 九龍城砦探検記２ 屋上から啓徳空港を見下ろす |
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| An aircraft flying just above the real Kowloon Walled City roottop. Source: designboom.com |
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| Evening on the roof of the real Kowloon Walled City, observing a plane landing to Kai Tat Airport. Source: designboom.com |
The history behind
All the above amazing characteristics of the Walled City were all started by the Chinese Qing Empire leasing New Kowloon and New Territories to The United Kingdom under the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory in 1898. At that time, the Chinese officials came up with the idea of maintaining the country's rule over a city inside the leased land. The officials thought that such an exclave would help keeping the country's tie with the leased land and help claiming it 99 years later. The exclave in this case in the Kowloon Walled City. |
| 1915 map of the Hong Kong region with the Kowloon Walled City listed as "Chinese Town" at the upper right-hand corner. Source: Wikipedia |
However, any attempts of the British Hong Kong government to take over the control of the City failed, due to the opposition from the Chinese government and the Chinese living in the City. Finally in 1948, the British and the Hong Kong governments decided to give up and let it to be. Meanwhile, the Chinese officials had no way to enter the Walled City since it was surrounded by British land, not even talking about ruling it. The City thus turned out to be a power vacuum which the British government didn't want to rule, the Hong Kong government was afraid to rule, and the Chinese government had no way to rule -- not under jurisdiction of any of the three government.
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| The "Not under jurisdiction of any of the three governments" graffiti (in Chinese 三不管 on the right of this screenshot) in Shenmue II |
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| The sign of the landlord association in Kowloon Walled City. Source: cityofdarkness.co.uk |
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| Postman delivering mails inside Kowloon Walled City. Source: cityofdarkness.co.uk |
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| A policeman patrolling in Kowloon Walled City. Source: cityofdarkness.co.uk |
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| The path for flights to approach Kai Tak Airport. Source: SCMP |
Side note: Where was the Wall of the Walled City?
Even though there is "Walled" in its name, the City one did not have any wall around it. Why was that? For that, we need to dig into its history further.In ancient times, Kowloon Walled City was a typical small outpost and coastal fort without any wall. It was after the British occupation of Hong Kong Island in 1841 that the Qing Empire realized the importance of defensing territory. In 1846, the Qing Empire constructed a wall to enclose the area, the origin of "Walled" in the name of the place.
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| Model of Kowloon Walled City in the mid 19th century. Source: Wikipedia |
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| The Walled City seen from White Crane Hill in 1865. Source: cityofdarkness.co.uk |
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| Kowloon Walled City in 1910s. Source: Hong Kong Museum of History via wsj.com |
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| The South Gate of Kowloon Walled City. Source: Wikipedia |
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| The Kai Tat Airport runway in 1971. Source: Wikipedia |
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| The city wall of Kowloon City in Shenmue II. |
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| Remnants of the City's South Gate and its entrance plaques. Source: Wikipedia |
References
City of Darkness Revisited. (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://cityofdarkness.co.uk/
Wall Street Journal. (n.d.). Kowloon Walled City. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://projects.wsj.com/kwc
Pictures of Kowloon Walled City. (2013, April 06). Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://hongwrong.com/kowloon-walled-city-photos/
ケロ. (n.d.). 九龍城砦探検記１. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://www.geocities.co.jp/SilkRoad/9613/kyuryu/kyuryu1.html
Chan, W. (2015, January 02). Kowloon Walled City: In Hong Kong, it was the densest place on Earth. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/31/travel/kowloon-walled-city/index.html
DeHart, J. (2013, April 26). Kowloon Walled City: Anarchy and Inspiration in the City of Darkness. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://thediplomat.com/2013/04/kowloon-walled-city-anarchy-and-inspiration-in-the-city-of-darkness/
The Lost Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong as Represented in Video Games. (2014, April 02). Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://untappedcities.com/2011/10/02/kill-screen-kowloon-city-behind-these-walls/
【情報】巨大的立體迷宮--香港九龍寨城(內含大量圖片). (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://forum.gamer.com.tw/Co.php?bsn=60433&sn=605187
香港高登討論區 (n.d.). 【時事台】紀錄片 - 九龍城寨 (多圖) by 軍事家. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://m3.hkgolden.com/view.aspx?message=6335212&type=CA
Carney, J. (2015, February 12). Kowloon Walled City: Life in the City of Darkness. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1191748/kowloon-walled-city-life-city-darkness
Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong Government. (n.d.). Declared Monuments in Hong Kong. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Monument/en/monuments_63.php
陳雲. (2005). 「守土與抗命」──九龍城寨的歷史意義與公園改裝建議. In 我思故我在──香港的風俗與文化 (pp. 154-170). 香港: 花千樹出版社.
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