Hi Mr Frost, we're hoping to produce a video for the anniversary of the demolition of the Walled City, and we'd love to use some of your footage if you'd allow it. We would credit you and send you a link when it's done. Thank you!
Hi NTomlin, No I'm not giving it away to anyone but if you can convince me you have a good reason to use it I might let you. The point of this video is not to make money. I have not made a penny out of it. What I want is to share with the world a brief view of an amazing place which no longer exists. I grew to love SCMP when I was in HK and still read it online. I am quite proud that they are sharing it with the people of South East Asia.
On the one hand, I totally understand why it was destroyed, it was unsafe. On the other, I feel like I missed out on a chance to go to somewhere...strange.
When I first dug out the VHS tape and watched it again after 20+ years it took me straight back. The clammy, hot, damp feel; the deafening cacophany of noise; the constantly dripping walls; the smells; and the fear I felt filming it. I think the legal residents got fair compensation and would have had to move to one of the many tower blocks in the area. I'm not sure what happened to those who had no right to be in Honk Kong and were there illegally on the run from China. Worth looking into.
Many thanks for posting this content. I have a strong fascination with Kowloon Walled City and am sad I was not able to visit prior to demolition. Finding raw footage like this is a gem as it helps me get a feel for what walking thru it would feel like. Thanks again for sharing with the world.
@ZionHillCalling I refer you to my reply to someone who said I was mad giving this away for free: Rob Frost 11 months ago Hi NTomlin, No I'm not giving it away to anyone but if you can convince me you have a good reason to use it I might let you. The point of this video is not to make money. I have not made a penny out of it. What I want is to share with the world a brief view of an amazing place which no longer exists. I grew to love SCMP when I was in HK and still read it online. I am quite proud that they are sharing it with the people of South East Asia.
joscelyne maree I’m not racist, I have nothing against Asians. If the comment had been about North Korea I wouldn’t have said that. Xenophobic at the least but not really.
A lady I know here in HK was born and grew up in the Walled City. She was 8 years old when her family got out in the early 70s due to the dangerous living conditions. She recalls walking past the slumped and sometimes dead bodies of the junkies, the brothels and gambling dens as she made her way through the mazes of alleyways and corridors. We visited the park yesterday, I was really moved by her personal accounts of the place and the retellings of her parents stories of life inside there. It really is such a small size of land compared to the populations that lived there! Great video man, I’ll be sure to forward it on to her.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share that. It really paints a vivid picture of what life was like in there. I hope to return to HK one day and visit the park.
The aesthetic is strong. been coming back to this video for 5 years to hear that Jan Hammer track mixed with the sights and sounds of Kowloon, honestly top 10 videos on youtube personally. Thanks again
Many thanks nightchemist. Your comment really cheered me up on this dull Monday morning. I also watched it again and had a trip down memory lane. Back to work ...
It would take them for ever to find their room in that never ending cubic maze, so probably not. And considering they are not legal addresses it would be impossible anyway.
Rio de Janeiro have slums that only a few select people know how to deliver things there. They created a map that even Google wanted to buy. But guess what, neither Google nor Amazon know how to navigate there. It's a brazilian Kowloon.
+Rob Frost - Oh there was a stench near piles of rubbish, who would of guessed, better make a documentary called "Stench of Rubbish Piles", make it seem educational and then post it on your TH-cam channel.
Rob Frost I was just imploring you to make a documentary after years of research on a topic that has been mystifying scientists and other learnt men for countries. You know, how rubbish smells. Serious topic for captain obvious.
Yes in these comments many gamers have mentioned game scenes that have been inspired by KWC like 'Shadowrun Hong Kong'. The same with films like 'Blade Runner'. A couple of scenes from 'Bloodsport' were actually filmed inside.
I am a 56-year-old Chinese Singaporean man. I have seen the Kowloon Walled City from the outside a few times and I have only managed to walk along its perimeter once in around 1989 to 1991 (which I cannot remember exactly when). I must admit that I did not dare to go inside to explore the place even though I was dead curious. I have grown up in the Chinatown in Singapore, and I have lived in those very old flats where the locals called it the “aeroplane flats” or “飛機樓” in Chinese, where many peoples considered it as slum housing. Thus, I know the meaning of poverty. However, the Kowloon Walled City was a stand-alone world by itself! Although I would wish to see the dwelling units in it, I must say many thanks to Mr Rob Frost, because I have now managed to glimpse the inside of this long-gone place, albeit from a secondary source video. Thank you, sir!
Rob Frost Sir, I am happy to read your reply; thank you very much. The world needs many passionate people like you, to share valuable and reliable information about our long-gone past, so that we can learn from it, and then go on appreciate all that we are enjoying now! 🙏🙏🙏
I've always heard stories of this place from my father. He used to tell me he would enter this place to go to the dentist and they were unlicensed and thus incredibly cheap. Being poor this was all they could afford. Stories of it being run by rampant triads and of them quickly going in to dentist then leaving as soon as possible without exchanging eye contact with anyone. Thanks for the footage
I am fascinated by kowloon... it's like something I've seen in dreams, I wanted it to exist, I knew there was such a strange place like this out there somewhere.. and it was. It's out there in the past. Seeing the dark streets and alleyways. And the fronts of the city. And the aerial view. And knowing of its inner workings. The houses, the shops, the people. Gangs, opium, prostitution, darkness, children, families who knew of no other life.. incredible.
Very well described. You stole the words right from my... well, mind. These are the exact same thoughts I had, but put into words. For some reason, my soul resonates with this city and longs to know the stories from the amazing people who lived there.
Well, give it a few years and some similar city will pop up someday. Perhaps in our populated future a Kowloon-style environment will be all that the children know.
@@ctrl_x1770 not if we can help it. Lol.. Let's build in the forest. Let's build in nature. Let's sungaze. Let's know how the heavens move. Let's love life. Kowloon is a warning of a prison city. Let's not let anyone prison our minds.
@@lowercase18 Haha, well, I just wrote that comment as a "what if" scenario - I'm actually very optimistic about the future of humanity. But even if our future is that of a megacity with walls so high we can't see the sun, I'm sure there will always exist individuals that eventually break down those walls.
Hi Mr Frost, I am video producer with the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. I am doing a story on a former drug addict and traid member who lives in the walled city. I am wondering if I could use some of your footage in my story? Thanks a lot.
Very creatively inspiring, and an interesting example of people making the best of things. But I'm not sorry to see it go. The place was a disaster waiting to happen. One large fire, building collapse or typhoon could have killed hundreds of people.
Great footage. My father once visited friends who lived in the walled city, and lived there for a period of time. The place was rife with crime, prostitution, drug use and trade and many other vices. Seeing the place itself instead of hearing about it, puts it in a new perspective. Thanks for sharing.
Rob Frost Well, my father spoke of eating in a dimly lit eatery, unsanitary conditions like sewage running along corridors, numerous roaches and dead rats, makeshift ceilings that leak water when it's raining, factories that made noodles and food products with the presence of pests sifting through the materials and ingredients, to name a few. There were many more unfathomable things that will never be seen nowadays, with the emphasis on having a clean environment to live in nowadays. That was in the late 70s. My father's home was no larger than the combined size of a queen size bed and a single bed, water was shared among many ppl and electricity supply often cut off. There were also many cases of fire and there were many flammable stuff just laying around. These are just some parts of the long story my father told me of his younger days. If you have read till here, thanks for reading, I may have typed too much haha.
Fascinating! You describe what I saw so well. Your father must have been a good story teller. I'm guessing there was no air-conditioning in the 70's. When I visited in the early 90's there was constant dripping everywhere from poorly maintained air conditioners. It was a hot dry day when I visited but it felt like it was raining inside. I suppose that helped with the fires though. I saw the rats, the noodle factories and the lady sitting on the step in the video was a prostitute and the room behind her was as you describe. Thanks for passing on your father's memories.
Rob Frost No problem haha, I'm glad to have shared my father's experience and memories. If you had eaten some noodles at a well known shop back then in the 90s, most likely the noodles were supplied by vendors in the walled city, because it's cheap.
Great video, thanks for posting it. Kowloon Walled City is so intriguing. Although it was full of problems (Triad gangs, drugs, violence, etc., sanitation, etc.) it was basically a self-sustaining city of its own up to the time it was demolished. Not a very nice city, but a city nonetheless.
From what I've read and hear from interviews with the writer of "a city of darkness" the place was not as bad as some of the urban myths act like.there was actually police officers that walked the whole place daily..(I have not ever been there,I'm just going off of interviews of people who have and of a cop that worked there) go to the books website,you'll find many more pictures,interviews,and a chance to but the book if interested. I'm ordering the book soon..looks great..
Fascinating. An English woman , Jackie Pullinger worked here helping drug addicts with some degree of sucess. No mean feat in a place where heroin and opium are so pure.
I never really knew about the city till pretty recently. It has been interesting me ever since i knew about it. I wish i could have seen it with my own eyes but as i was born in 93, I am to young anyway haha. This is why i think this footage is amazing. It is one thing to just take pictures from the outside but this is so much better. It shows in a amazing way how these people used to live, how what amazes us is just normal regular and for most people peaceful life. I have to be honest tho! some of these dark alleyways look really scary tho! Thanks for the amazing footage!
It's Jan Hammer. Very popular at the time due to Miami Vice TV show. 1st one called 'Trance' the second 'One way out'. I have credited him in the opening annotations. (You need to have Flash player installed and switch on captions. I also reccommend a smartphone with Shazam)
To think that many people who grew up here are still alive today... I am amazed enough that we were fortunate enough to have an Anglophone document it on video while it was still around! Looks and feels otherworldly.
Thanks +yy. I am very pleased I ignored everyone that advised me against it. People will still be watching this 5 minutes of video long after I am gone.
This is so beautiful. There's something so horrible, yet so naturally beautiful to it all. The way it sprang to life without restriction. It seems less of a city and more a living, organic megastructure.
First of all I would like to congratulate you for being so brave to take these incredible footage, no humans should live in such harsh squalor.. It had to be demolished for sure? And for the children whom grew up within these walls a feeling of melancholy?
Horrible, yet beautiful place. It was like the heydays of the low life that permeated the late 80's and early 90's. Inspiration to many artists and writers, Kowloon Walled City will be remembered like a bittersweet memory. However, it was for its best to be demolished and replaced with a beautiful park in the middle of vibrant Hong Kong, either with its lights (the old Walled City) and its darks (The Triad-ruled unhealthy and dangerous maze of perdition). Nice work!
They couldn't. That was another reason for knocking it down. Mind you it was so damp everywhere it probably wouldn't spread far. I think small fires were frequent due to poor wiring and water everywhere.
its sad to know that this is possibly one of the only insights we have today on how it looked/felt like walking through the city. Yes we have books, images and videos showing 3d models and former residents talking about it, but actual footage is so cool to see. That's why this video is practically a TH-cam relic from the past
Damn what an interesting place. A city built upon pure necessity and anarchy. A place I definitely wouldn't want to live in, but would have loved to visit. This is a gem of a video that will continue to be watched well into the future. Thanks for documenting this beautiful piece of history.
Thank you Danny. You have put your finger on my greatest feelings about this video. It will be watched by people long after I'm gone. It's a wonderful thing to be able to do.
Very precious video you got here!! I lived across from the Walled City less than 100 feet when I was a kid. Saw that happen when they knocked it down...... too bad I was too young to realize how special the structure was....
I think the reason places like this resonate with people, despite the obvious struggles and disadvantages of it, is because of how incredibly human it is, with all the goods and flaws.
The use of music overlayed with shots that combine to really show "the heart" of a place is something I've always strived to do artistically. This is an absolute success in that regard. I was completely transfixed while watching this. Absolutely excellent, Mr. Frost.
One of the most fascinating things I've seen lately. So much darkness, it must've been a status symbol to have an apartment with a window facing the outside
Thanks astraiiia. Yes I have always thought facing the outside would have been the best place to be. Not just because of fresh air. A lot of people living on the inside had people walking through their homes all the time as there were few communal passages above ground level.
Yes I agree Embracer. They were filthy, nightmarish conditions where no person should ever have to live. There was little good to be said of the Kowloon Walled City.
Thank you Alex. I did live in Hong Kong at the time but I did go there as a tourist. In fact I deliberately dressed like a tourist with a video camera as I didn't want to look like an official or police.
Rob Frost And you are not asian? Wow. to be honest with you: I like to think of myself as an adventurous traveller, but I am not sure if I had the courage to do what you did. That was brave. I think you can be proud of yourself to be one of the very few people who have such video document to share. The music is not bad by the way... My deepest respect!
Rob Frost By the way: I was in Hong Kong 2 months ago and I remembered a photo journal about Kowloon Walled city which I read many many years ago. You can imagine my disappointment when I learned that they tore it down to build a park...
such a time blast. what do you feel when you see your tape again? the same when you filmed it? and do you know by any chance what happened to the people who lost their homes after Kowloon was torn down? It is said, the government spend about 2.7 billion HKD to compensate them but the inhabitants had no place to go - I wonder where did they go
as you know there is constant demolition of old buildings here and constant new development. the british gov and hk agreed that they would sort this out by the handover in 1997. the people were relocated to other new government housing developments. relocation schemes are happening all the time here.
People often think that. This is my reply to the last person who said it should have been preserved: I see your point. The trouble is if you cleaned up everything that was dirty dangerous or illegal there would have been nothing left. All the buildings were illegal, dangerous construction, open sewers and filth everywhere and lack of clean water. The only way to keep it the same would need people to carry on living in a dystopian hell hole. I feel very privileged to have visited it before it was knocked down but what I saw was a terrible place that had to go.?
I believe some teams of Japanese went into the place after all who lived there were evacuated, and made quite detailed layouts of the structures, dwellings, shops and factories therein. The HK government could have used these plans to recreate a small section of the city using it as a museum - instead of the very boring park that is now there. Then again, what would you expect of authorities who demolished most of the historic buildings elsewhere in HK.
Thanks CannibaLouiST. Nice music but a little modern and jolly to go with this dystopian video for my liking. I added Jan Hammer music when I edited it back in 1990 because he was popular at the time for scoring the Miami Vice TV show in the late 80's. I needed to add some music because the constant, deafening noise sounded awful. It sounds quite out of date now but it is contemporary and fits the mood. It is not everyone's cup of tea so I say turn down the music and play whatever you like but if you want to feel how I did as I wandered around the KWC it has to be a little scary. Thanks again for a great comment! I am now going to listen to more HKE.
I haven't been to Brazil (yet) but I saw the Rio Favellas in the excellent film 'City of God'. The standard of living looks equally poor. Judging by the film the Favelas look more dangerous. There wasn't a lot of gun crime in Hong Kong. Both are cases of governments turning a blind eye to human suffering. I wonder if the 2016 Olympics will help sort out the Favelas in Rio.
i can understand why people from overseas would think this, but to people here, it is a terrible place filled with crime and poverty. if you think of a horrible neighbourhood filled with prostitution, crime, gangs, disease and very bad hygiene where you live, you wouldn't want that place to exist. the government had turned its back on this place and it was good to be demolished.
Hi Rob, You've done a good job recording the last moment of the KWC! I will move in the estates just adjacent to the old site of the KWC in March. As a Hongkonger, I regreted that I had never gone inside the CITY. I was 20 when you took this video, which were "old" enough to go inside. But I 've never done it! What a regret! I do have a handful of friends who lived nearby back then, with one who even lived there! That "fortunate" man told me he lived on the top floor and had to walk upstairs!
I can't even describe how envious I am of you. I wish I was able to go into the mysterious walls of the city. Its a shame that it was taken down. Even though many looked at KWC as a shame to Hong Kong, I think it is incredibly interesting and intriguing. Reminds me of one of those dystopian novels. Props for the video!
I never heard city of Kowloon before until i played a game called Shenmue 2 back in 2002. The final fight scene took place on the rooftop of the tallest building in Kowloon. Great game..
Hello Mr Frost, we are 6 vfx students and we are crafting a short film which is set in the Walled City ! We are gonna make the city in almost full CGI and this video among others is really inspiring for us as a reference. We would hope that you'd agree us using some parts of your video in our end credits so the audience can see archive footage of this amazing place. We would credit you ofc. Thank you !
Matt Ho even though it was run by triad it was not evil, just another city. Every city has drugs and prostitution and gangs, and if anything the gangs there kept law and order and we're basically took the role of the government and police. The people had a sense of community seldom found in other communities of that size.
How did you manage to film this? Not very discreet to walk around with a big 90s camera in a walled dense city full of gangs not eager to have themselves caught on tape...
Good question. For starters despite living there I dressed like a tourist. In Hong Kong the gangs might "chop" each other every now and again but very rarely touched us Gweilos and never tourists. You will also notice that there aren't many shots of people directly. The place was heaving with people but I filmed in places where there were few about. The shot at the end (4:26) of the guys in the factory/shop I got by holding the camera sideways against my chest. I saw loads of these little factories but wasn't brave enough to film inside but felt I had to get one on film before I left. Straight after that shot you see a guy walk past me carrying sacks. When I saw him coming I turned the camera to make it look like I was panning around but he had sussed out what I was doing. You see the camera shake when he hits me with the corner of a sack. There was plenty of room to pass, he was letting me know I wasn't welcome. I left after that. The guy with the coke bottle (3:04) wasn't being that friendly either. Thanks for asking.
@@robfrost6128 That is creepy and amazing. And what a perfect shot that is at 3:22 where you zoom in on the woman that looks at you, then a person walks in the way. Great Job. Btw, what is this music?
Dear Mr Frost. I'm a huge fan of this footage and of Walled City in general. I believe your footage is of great value, due to the increasing importance on the shown aestetics in polular culture. This place is where it all came from... I'm working on a reflective piece about the life inside the Walled City and I was wondering whether I can use your footage? I will of course credit you and link viewers to your video in the description. Please let me know. Thanks in advance.
Haha well spotted! No I think she must have been scratching her ear. Mobile phones in those days where about a foot tall and very expensive. If you went to a very expensive bar or restaurant it was common for the wealthy locals to all put their phones, standing upright, in the middle of the tables like a mini Hong Kong skyline. When one of the phones would ring the owner would look around the room and make sure everyone had noticed before answering it.
Holy cow, that’s pure gold content right there. I’m pretty sure some people aged 40 to 80 today had actually been there and lived there before. A population density of KWC means that you would jam in 7,725,000,000 people to live in the size of Delaware state or Brunei or even Palestine or roughly 2,377 square miles.
Hi Rob, Curious to know why it looks like there isn't much people in your 1990 video? I heard that that it was densely populated with 30000 people. Is that because most residents moved to their new homes and so the city was almost emptied by the time you filmed ? Thank you (or anyone who can provide a reason) for your reply in advance.
Hi Lok lok good question. At the time of filming some people had already moved out but the main reason you don't see a lot of people is because I was too scared to film in places were it was crowded. Imagine you are visiting the dodgiest area of your local town. How would the people react if you walked round filming them. ;-)
Hey Rob, I'm a middle school student and I have to make a documentary on the walled city for a history assignment, I was hoping I could use some of your footage in a non - profit educational institute?
Hi Mr Frost, we're working on produce a video about the Walled City, and we'd love to use some of your footage if you'd allow it. We would credit you, please let us know if there are any questions/problems. Thank you!
@@robfrost6128 Sorry about that, please reconsider our request.Or you can visit our website/TH-cam channel to see if we're trust worthy. Thank you. www.hk01.com/zone/10/%E7%A4%BE%E5%8D%80
Look like a scene out of bladerunner or the 5th element. Unique it was to be there and see it, but i have to agree with the filmaker, this place was one giant disaster waiting to happen
TOTALLY-AWESOME FOOTAGE!!! and filmed at the best time, a few years before it was demolished, so the population must have already been much smaller at that time. How I wish I was alive back then, so that I could have had the chance to explore this magnificent maze of concrete and metal....!
truly I cant complement you enough for archiving this incredible place (and time) in history!! and sharing the footage with the all of us through internet. You sir Rob, are a hero.
OH my god. Thank you so much for filming this. I always curious how it looked like inside this "city". Thank you so much for taking your time to transfer it into digital and share it with the world. Appreiated.
The only westerner I know of that lived there was Jackie Pullinger the missionary who worked with drug addicts. It was one of the worlds largest opium producing centres. Because it was a British colony at the time, everywhere in Hong Kong had both Chinese and English street signs. It might have been a legal thing.
Many thanks Yip Lam Chan! Google Translation - "Bring up a lot of childhood memories, classics, aftertaste, although at that time a lot of narrow streets" Did you visit there or live there? (你去过那里或住在那里吗？)
Rob Frost hey Rob, must have been 1992. My school ( GSIS) organised the trip. We had lunch at a underground kindergarten, everything was dark and wet. Little shops and I remember a dentist operating underground. Thinking about it now i was so lucky to see all that with my own eyes.
@@Benjamin-ib4to That's amazing! You're only the second person that has posted a comment on here in 8 years saying they had been inside. The teacher who decided to take their students to see KWC before it was demolished showed great bravery and foresight.
It is so fascinating to me how was this place even built, and how did it even become and end up looking like this! It reminds me a lot of many similar smaller neighbourhoods I saw when I was in China.
Yes we did. He wanted to show me the different businesses in there. He told me about a friend who lived there years ago back in the 70s. I didn't think much of it then, but now when i look back, that place was an abomination. I felt bad for those living under those conditions.
This is a very interesting and unique video Mr Frost. It has fascinated me since the first time I watched it. It must have been quite scary to walk down those dark corridors. By the way, what was that man at 3:00 pointing at you? It looked like a gun or something but I am not sure.
Thanks Mr Hommes. It was quite scary but I wasn't that worried about violence. I dressed like a tourist with an 'I heart HK' t-shirt etc. Violence in HK was usually between triad gangs and never against tourists. What I was scared of was getting lost. It was a labyrinth of dark passages and I had to remember my way back out. The thing the bloke pointed at me was a traditional style coca cola bottle. I took it as a sort of greeting like "cheers, we're keeping an eye on you". I didn't see him until the camera came into focus. You can see the camera shake when I realised and moved on. That was the scariest bit.
It's so creepy and interesting. I am very amazed at this city. But if it had stayed up, crime in the city would continue and it was dying. It was time to put it out of it's misery before it became worse.
I don't know how exactly to describe it. I've developed an interest in some "creepy" aspects from the 1960s-1990s and Kowloon city just fits what I imagine but it was a little too run down.
Historically it wasn't really a case of "turning a blind eye" - more that there was NO government at all. In the Lease of the New Territories to Great Britain in 1898, Kowloon City was excluded, so was, theoretically still a part of the Quing Empire of Greater China. However, it was cut off from the 'mainland' by the British colony, so was effectively left utterly to its own totally unregulated devices.
Thanks Caitlin. It was a fascinating place but also had people living in appalling conditions and sanitation. Hong Kong still has conditions that are not dissimilar. Just search youtube for 'cage homes in hong kong'.
weird.. The homeless people of china back then were so creative and adaptive, it seems! If you gave 33thousand of the homeless people in my city of portland, oregon a plot to live on they would turn it into a giant pile of garbage and tents and needles... (oh wait.. they already do that haha..)
Thanks for your comment Benji. I will say however, the people living in KWC were not homeless. They were mostly hard working people who had low paid jobs and lived there because it was cheap.
Hi Mr Frost, we're hoping to produce a video for the anniversary of the demolition of the Walled City, and we'd love to use some of your footage if you'd allow it. We would credit you and send you a link when it's done. Thank you!
Hi SCMP Yes no problem. I look forward to seeing it. Rob
Rob Frost you just giving away your footage? May I use it too? Thanks
Hi NTomlin, No I'm not giving it away to anyone but if you can convince me you have a good reason to use it I might let you. The point of this video is not to make money. I have not made a penny out of it. What I want is to share with the world a brief view of an amazing place which no longer exists. I grew to love SCMP when I was in HK and still read it online. I am quite proud that they are sharing it with the people of South East Asia.
BRO, THAT IS ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTABLE COMMENTS I HAVE EVER READ. YOU ARE THE TYPE OF HUMAN BEING WE NEED MORE OF. BEST TO YOU SIR.
Many thanks Mc Cc
On the one hand, I totally understand why it was destroyed, it was unsafe. On the other, I feel like I missed out on a chance to go to somewhere...strange.
Same, this place fascinates me in much the same way as scary 70s/80s NYC. In the end, I realize people's wellbeing/safety trump my morbid curiosity.
wrr, not missx or stranx or unstranx
Adam Hovey I just wish I could go back in time & experience some of these historical places. Like hashima.
I know the feeling. Kinda like '70's and '80's New York, before Giuliani, the broken windows theory and all that. Life, unfiltered.
It is a lawless place run by gangs. You may be killed in there and no police dare to step in to help you.
When I first dug out the VHS tape and watched it again after 20+ years it took me straight back. The clammy, hot, damp feel; the deafening cacophany of noise; the constantly dripping walls; the smells; and the fear I felt filming it.
I think the legal residents got fair compensation and would have had to move to one of the many tower blocks in the area. I'm not sure what happened to those who had no right to be in Honk Kong and were there illegally on the run from China. Worth looking into.
Wow
Thank you mr rob for sharing your experience
@@supermananimationsstudios8519 Thanks Supermab
@@spastonyy6458 My pleasure.
Many thanks for posting this content. I have a strong fascination with Kowloon Walled City and am sad I was not able to visit prior to demolition. Finding raw footage like this is a gem as it helps me get a feel for what walking thru it would feel like. Thanks again for sharing with the world.
What a horrible but incredibly fascinating city. I do however understand why this place needed to be demolished.
Meta Carpus There are many risks to living so cramped, one being disease spreading quickly, another being the high crime.
It was starting to collapse too
I wouldn’t be surprised if it was, it was getting so huge
Big fire hazard too fires could easily jump from building to building
Yea, it's not an acceptable place for people to live even if it is deeply fascinating
This footage is now worth gold
Thank you JICM25. Unfortunately only metaphorically. I don't get any money for this from youTube because it has copyrighted music on it.
Rob Frost TH-cam are asshole
@ZionHillCalling I refer you to my reply to someone who said I was mad giving this away for free:
Rob Frost
11 months ago
Hi NTomlin, No I'm not giving it away to anyone but if you can convince me you have a good reason to use it I might let you. The point of this video is not to make money. I have not made a penny out of it. What I want is to share with the world a brief view of an amazing place which no longer exists. I grew to love SCMP when I was in HK and still read it online. I am quite proud that they are sharing it with the people of South East Asia.
ZionHillCalling ok fuck you and your worthless like this comment was useless
@@ozcaks8888 Unfortunately I don't have the original.
I bet the people who grew up there built up an amazing immune system!
Yes I bet they did.
Or they just died unhealthy people.
No the died of corona virus
Goldie 24k at least learn to spell before being racist
joscelyne maree I’m not racist, I have nothing against Asians. If the comment had been about North Korea I wouldn’t have said that. Xenophobic at the least but not really.
A lady I know here in HK was born and grew up in the Walled City. She was 8 years old when her family got out in the early 70s due to the dangerous living conditions. She recalls walking past the slumped and sometimes dead bodies of the junkies, the brothels and gambling dens as she made her way through the mazes of alleyways and corridors. We visited the park yesterday, I was really moved by her personal accounts of the place and the retellings of her parents stories of life inside there. It really is such a small size of land compared to the populations that lived there! Great video man, I’ll be sure to forward it on to her.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share that. It really paints a vivid picture of what life was like in there. I hope to return to HK one day and visit the park.
Hong Kong was poor under brutal colonial British. It was oppressed.
@@drewh3224so not true, it was the British system which built HK into a global financial hub
wrr
The aesthetic is strong. been coming back to this video for 5 years to hear that Jan Hammer track mixed with the sights and sounds of Kowloon, honestly top 10 videos on youtube personally. Thanks again
Many thanks nightchemist. Your comment really cheered me up on this dull Monday morning. I also watched it again and had a trip down memory lane. Back to work ...
I know what you mean!
if this still would exist, i would wonder if amazon prime would also deliver to those people directly
haha I doubt it.
It would take them for ever to find their room in that never ending cubic maze, so probably not. And considering they are not legal addresses it would be impossible anyway.
They would deliver to the post office nearby
Amazon prime costs three times their rent, I really hope you're just trying to be funny.
Rio de Janeiro have slums that only a few select people know how to deliver things there. They created a map that even Google wanted to buy. But guess what, neither Google nor Amazon know how to navigate there. It's a brazilian Kowloon.
Imagine the smell
+druha10304 Yes it was bad. Especially near the huge piles of rubbish.
+druha10304 smell like teen spirit
+Rob Frost - Oh there was a stench near piles of rubbish, who would of guessed, better make a documentary called "Stench of Rubbish Piles", make it seem educational and then post it on your TH-cam channel.
+Lu Ruan Humour?
Rob Frost I was just imploring you to make a documentary after years of research on a topic that has been mystifying scientists and other learnt men for countries. You know, how rubbish smells. Serious topic for captain obvious.
is disgusting but in the same time amazing...its a kind of cyberpunk future.
Thanks GuilleArgies. Blade Runner?
yes something like that!
GuilleArgies ikr
Yeah, not many can appreciate its beauty. 💀
Looks like something strait out of a video game.
Yes in these comments many gamers have mentioned game scenes that have been inspired by KWC like 'Shadowrun Hong Kong'. The same with films like 'Blade Runner'. A couple of scenes from 'Bloodsport' were actually filmed inside.
+Rob Frost Huh, very interesting!
In Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 there is a mission which takes place in KWC.
Shenmue 2!
wrong; videogames took inspiration from this
I am a 56-year-old Chinese Singaporean man.
I have seen the Kowloon Walled City from the outside a few times and I have only managed to walk along its perimeter once in around 1989 to 1991 (which I cannot remember exactly when). I must admit that I did not dare to go inside to explore the place even though I was dead curious.
I have grown up in the Chinatown in Singapore, and I have lived in those very old flats where the locals called it the “aeroplane flats” or “飛機樓” in Chinese, where many peoples considered it as slum housing. Thus, I know the meaning of poverty. However, the Kowloon Walled City was a stand-alone world by itself!
Although I would wish to see the dwelling units in it, I must say many thanks to Mr Rob Frost, because I have now managed to glimpse the inside of this long-gone place, albeit from a secondary source video.
Thank you, sir!
Hi ML L, Thank you so much for your comment. It is stories like yours that I was hoping for when I uploaded this video.
Thank you, sir!
Rob Frost
Sir, I am happy to read your reply; thank you very much.
The world needs many passionate people like you, to share valuable and reliable information about our long-gone past, so that we can learn from it, and then go on appreciate all that we are enjoying now!
🙏🙏🙏
@@mll5530 Thanks again
Great comment.
@@TravisBourgeois
🙏
It has been at least 4 years; now I become a 60-year old Chinese Singaporean man……
I've always heard stories of this place from my father. He used to tell me he would enter this place to go to the dentist and they were unlicensed and thus incredibly cheap. Being poor this was all they could afford. Stories of it being run by rampant triads and of them quickly going in to dentist then leaving as soon as possible without exchanging eye contact with anyone. Thanks for the footage
benson827 Very interesting benson. I heard similar stories from locals when I was in HK.
I am fascinated by kowloon... it's like something I've seen in dreams, I wanted it to exist, I knew there was such a strange place like this out there somewhere.. and it was. It's out there in the past. Seeing the dark streets and alleyways. And the fronts of the city. And the aerial view. And knowing of its inner workings. The houses, the shops, the people. Gangs, opium, prostitution, darkness, children, families who knew of no other life.. incredible.
Thanks Victor. Well described.
Very well described. You stole the words right from my... well, mind. These are the exact same thoughts I had, but put into words. For some reason, my soul resonates with this city and longs to know the stories from the amazing people who lived there.
Well, give it a few years and some similar city will pop up someday. Perhaps in our populated future a Kowloon-style environment will be all that the children know.
@@ctrl_x1770 not if we can help it. Lol.. Let's build in the forest. Let's build in nature. Let's sungaze. Let's know how the heavens move. Let's love life. Kowloon is a warning of a prison city. Let's not let anyone prison our minds.
@@lowercase18 Haha, well, I just wrote that comment as a "what if" scenario - I'm actually very optimistic about the future of humanity. But even if our future is that of a megacity with walls so high we can't see the sun, I'm sure there will always exist individuals that eventually break down those walls.
i'm digging these groovy beats
wrgg
Hi Mr Frost, I am video producer with the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. I am doing a story on a former drug addict and traid member who lives in the walled city. I am wondering if I could use some of your footage in my story? Thanks a lot.
Hi SCMP Yes please feel free. Please credit me and send me a link when it is ready. All the best. Rob
www.scmp.com/video/hong-kong/2067891/former-walled-city-heroin-addict-now-helps-teens-quit-drugs Thanks a lot for the help!
Great video. Moving story. Glad I could contribute.
Nice
Very creatively inspiring, and an interesting example of people making the best of things. But I'm not sorry to see it go. The place was a disaster waiting to happen. One large fire, building collapse or typhoon could have killed hundreds of people.
Thanks Wooboo. I agree entirely.
Great footage. My father once visited friends who lived in the walled city, and lived there for a period of time. The place was rife with crime, prostitution, drug use and trade and many other vices. Seeing the place itself instead of hearing about it, puts it in a new perspective. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Gardiroth. Your father must have some interesting stories.
Rob Frost Well, my father spoke of eating in a dimly lit eatery, unsanitary conditions like sewage running along corridors, numerous roaches and dead rats, makeshift ceilings that leak water when it's raining, factories that made noodles and food products with the presence of pests sifting through the materials and ingredients, to name a few. There were many more unfathomable things that will never be seen nowadays, with the emphasis on having a clean environment to live in nowadays. That was in the late 70s. My father's home was no larger than the combined size of a queen size bed and a single bed, water was shared among many ppl and electricity supply often cut off. There were also many cases of fire and there were many flammable stuff just laying around. These are just some parts of the long story my father told me of his younger days. If you have read till here, thanks for reading, I may have typed too much haha.
Fascinating! You describe what I saw so well. Your father must have been a good story teller. I'm guessing there was no air-conditioning in the 70's. When I visited in the early 90's there was constant dripping everywhere from poorly maintained air conditioners. It was a hot dry day when I visited but it felt like it was raining inside. I suppose that helped with the fires though.
I saw the rats, the noodle factories and the lady sitting on the step in the video was a prostitute and the room behind her was as you describe.
Thanks for passing on your father's memories.
Rob Frost No problem haha, I'm glad to have shared my father's experience and memories. If you had eaten some noodles at a well known shop back then in the 90s, most likely the noodles were supplied by vendors in the walled city, because it's cheap.
Great video, thanks for posting it. Kowloon Walled City is so intriguing. Although it was full of problems (Triad gangs, drugs, violence, etc., sanitation, etc.) it was basically a self-sustaining city of its own up to the time it was demolished. Not a very nice city, but a city nonetheless.
+TheSpogNYC Thanks TheSpogNYC. My pleasure.
From what I've read and hear from interviews with the writer of "a city of darkness" the place was not as bad as some of the urban myths act like.there was actually police officers that walked the whole place daily..(I have not ever been there,I'm just going off of interviews of people who have and of a cop that worked there) go to the books website,you'll find many more pictures,interviews,and a chance to but the book if interested. I'm ordering the book soon..looks great..
How is it self sustaining do they have crops on the roofs🤨
@@123sLb123 "self-sustaining" to the extent of most other cities, not in absolute terms.
Fascinating. An English woman , Jackie Pullinger worked here helping drug addicts with some degree of sucess. No mean feat in a place where heroin and opium are so pure.
wrr
I never really knew about the city till pretty recently. It has been interesting me ever since i knew about it. I wish i could have seen it with my own eyes but as i was born in 93, I am to young anyway haha. This is why i think this footage is amazing. It is one thing to just take pictures from the outside but this is so much better. It shows in a amazing way how these people used to live, how what amazes us is just normal regular and for most people peaceful life. I have to be honest tho! some of these dark alleyways look really scary tho! Thanks for the amazing footage!
It's Jan Hammer. Very popular at the time due to Miami Vice TV show. 1st one called 'Trance' the second 'One way out'. I have credited him in the opening annotations. (You need to have Flash player installed and switch on captions. I also reccommend a smartphone with Shazam)
Thanks +princeviny17
To think that many people who grew up here are still alive today... I am amazed enough that we were fortunate enough to have an Anglophone document it on video while it was still around! Looks and feels otherworldly.
Thanks +yy. I am very pleased I ignored everyone that advised me against it. People will still be watching this 5 minutes of video long after I am gone.
Rob Frost It's crazy to think that this footage is almost 40 years old
RanchoFundo it’s not? 1990 was 30 years ago
This is so beautiful. There's something so horrible, yet so naturally beautiful to it all. The way it sprang to life without restriction. It seems less of a city and more a living, organic megastructure.
Well put APL! I am glad you see it.
This is so creepy! Great video! I wouldn't even have lived in there if I was homeless!
First of all I would like to congratulate you for being so brave to take these incredible footage, no humans should live in such harsh squalor.. It had to be demolished for sure? And for the children whom grew up within these walls a feeling of melancholy?
Horrible, yet beautiful place. It was like the heydays of the low life that permeated the late 80's and early 90's.
Inspiration to many artists and writers, Kowloon Walled City will be remembered like a bittersweet memory.
However, it was for its best to be demolished and replaced with a beautiful park in the middle of vibrant Hong Kong, either with its lights (the old Walled City) and its darks (The Triad-ruled unhealthy and dangerous maze of perdition).
Nice work!
Thanks CW. Agreed.
What if it caught fire? How would they get in the middle to put it out?
They couldn't. That was another reason for knocking it down. Mind you it was so damp everywhere it probably wouldn't spread far. I think small fires were frequent due to poor wiring and water everywhere.
Rob Frost ah alright. Makes sense. That'd be a huge bonfire if it all went up in flames tho!
A lot of it was built from concrete but it's amazing it never burnt diwn.
its sad to know that this is possibly one of the only insights we have today on how it looked/felt like walking through the city. Yes we have books, images and videos showing 3d models and former residents talking about it, but actual footage is so cool to see. That's why this video is practically a TH-cam relic from the past
Thanks voidazu
I am a teenager from Hong Kong
Thank you for photographing the Kowloon Walled City and recording the history of Hong Kong
My pleasure ProSamuelGaming! Thank you.
The beat in this video had no business going as hard as it did.
これは超貴重！
ありがとうございました 主将帰宅部
the city itself is like a whole new country. completely novel...
Thanks Ben-Zra
Damn what an interesting place. A city built upon pure necessity and anarchy. A place I definitely wouldn't want to live in, but would have loved to visit. This is a gem of a video that will continue to be watched well into the future. Thanks for documenting this beautiful piece of history.
Thank you Danny. You have put your finger on my greatest feelings about this video. It will be watched by people long after I'm gone. It's a wonderful thing to be able to do.
Very precious video you got here!! I lived across from the Walled City less than 100 feet when I was a kid. Saw that happen when they knocked it down...... too bad I was too young to realize how special the structure was....
I think the reason places like this resonate with people, despite the obvious struggles and disadvantages of it, is because of how incredibly human it is, with all the goods and flaws.
Thanks Beepst. I agree. It was a friendly community despite the conditions.
It's quite surprising, I can see the kowloon walled city park from where I live, but I never knew that it had any historical meaning till now.
Thanks +iTz_RaG I am glad you found it interesting.
The use of music overlayed with shots that combine to really show "the heart" of a place is something I've always strived to do artistically. This is an absolute success in that regard. I was completely transfixed while watching this. Absolutely excellent, Mr. Frost.
Thank you Jon
I found this place cool. Sadly they'd demolished this place.
Irza Liando yeah, it'd be great with some urban decay photography
Feel like pure shit just want her back x
Most cyberpunk city that ever existed.
Thanks ZZ, yes a lot of people have said that in the comments.
One of the most fascinating things I've seen lately. So much darkness, it must've been a status symbol to have an apartment with a window facing the outside
Thanks astraiiia. Yes I have always thought facing the outside would have been the best place to be. Not just because of fresh air. A lot of people living on the inside had people walking through their homes all the time as there were few communal passages above ground level.
Great music choice, it fits the footage very well!
Wow, great to see mister rob frost you are still active in comments, I hope you and your family are safe in COVID crisis!
Thanks Titan yes I'm fine. I have enjoyed responding to comments for the 8 years since I uploaded it.
@@robfrost6128 haha must be a unique and good experience.
Fantastic footage you have here! Thank you so much for giving the world a little more insight to a society now long gone.
My pleasure. Thank you.
Yes I agree Embracer. They were filthy, nightmarish conditions where no person should ever have to live. There was little good to be said of the Kowloon Walled City.
How brave of you to go inside! You went there as a tourist?
Thank you Alex. I did live in Hong Kong at the time but I did go there as a tourist. In fact I deliberately dressed like a tourist with a video camera as I didn't want to look like an official or police.
Rob Frost And you are not asian? Wow. to be honest with you: I like to think of myself as an adventurous traveller, but I am not sure if I had the courage to do what you did. That was brave. I think you can be proud of yourself to be one of the very few people who have such video document to share. The music is not bad by the way... My deepest respect!
Rob Frost By the way: I was in Hong Kong 2 months ago and I remembered a photo journal about Kowloon Walled city which I read many many years ago. You can imagine my disappointment when I learned that they tore it down to build a park...
Rob Frost Were you harassed by gang members? How dangerous was it? I see footage of kids walking along the alley alone so i’m rather confused
such a time blast. what do you feel when you see your tape again? the same when you filmed it?
and do you know by any chance what happened to the people who lost their homes after Kowloon was torn down? It is said, the government spend about 2.7 billion HKD to compensate them but the inhabitants had no place to go - I wonder where did they go
Incredible video. Very fascinating. Thank you for uploading this.
Thanks Finland!
"Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line for the next available customer service agent."
*MUSIC RESUMES*
This is an interesting film of Hong Kong's KWC past history, well done.
Many thanks Slaoane.
as you know there is constant demolition of old buildings here and constant new development. the british gov and hk agreed that they would sort this out by the handover in 1997. the people were relocated to other new government housing developments. relocation schemes are happening all the time here.
this shuld have never been destroyed its so unique.
People often think that. This is my reply to the last person who said it should have been preserved:
I see your point. The trouble is if you cleaned up everything that was dirty dangerous or illegal there would have been nothing left. All the buildings were illegal, dangerous construction, open sewers and filth everywhere and lack of clean water. The only way to keep it the same would need people to carry on living in a dystopian hell hole. I feel very privileged to have visited it before it was knocked down but what I saw was a terrible place that had to go.?
Dante's first level of hell.
it is also a miracle that the walled city never had a fire or a collapse during all the years of its existence
@@TheAbderaman With so much leakage and moisture, I bet it would have been difficult to burn it
I believe some teams of Japanese went into the place after all who lived there were evacuated, and made quite detailed layouts of the structures, dwellings, shops and factories therein. The HK government could have used these plans to recreate a small section of the city using it as a museum - instead of the very boring park that is now there. Then again, what would you expect of authorities who demolished most of the historic buildings elsewhere in HK.
好珍貴的視訊，作為九龍寨城拆除後出生既人，睇呢d只能去博物館喇。thank for sharing
Thanks Steven
1. turn off the volume of this clip
2. open Hong Kong Express music
3. watch and time travel to old Hongkong
Thanks CannibaLouiST. Nice music but a little modern and jolly to go with this dystopian video for my liking. I added Jan Hammer music when I edited it back in 1990 because he was popular at the time for scoring the Miami Vice TV show in the late 80's. I needed to add some music because the constant, deafening noise sounded awful. It sounds quite out of date now but it is contemporary and fits the mood. It is not everyone's cup of tea so I say turn down the music and play whatever you like but if you want to feel how I did as I wandered around the KWC it has to be a little scary. Thanks again for a great comment! I am now going to listen to more HKE.
I think the track you put in is good, too. In fact, the whole album is great.
Greatest thing Ive ever seen. I've always wanted to visit the Walled City. Too bad I was too young to ever visit it before it got demolished.
I haven't been to Brazil (yet) but I saw the Rio Favellas in the excellent film 'City of God'. The standard of living looks equally poor. Judging by the film the Favelas look more dangerous. There wasn't a lot of gun crime in Hong Kong.
Both are cases of governments turning a blind eye to human suffering. I wonder if the 2016 Olympics will help sort out the Favelas in Rio.
Yeah, actually things didn't got too much different on Rio nowadays tho..
@@yuisaint6808 Thank you for your reply after 7 years. It's sad that in that time little changed.
i can understand why people from overseas would think this, but to people here, it is a terrible place filled with crime and poverty. if you think of a horrible neighbourhood filled with prostitution, crime, gangs, disease and very bad hygiene where you live, you wouldn't want that place to exist. the government had turned its back on this place and it was good to be demolished.
Fascinating document, thanks for uploading
Many thanks Alex. My pleasure.
Hi Rob, You've done a good job recording the last moment of the KWC! I will move in the estates just adjacent to the old site of the KWC in March. As a Hongkonger, I regreted that I had never gone inside the CITY. I was 20 when you took this video, which were "old" enough to go inside. But I 've never done it! What a regret!
I do have a handful of friends who lived nearby back then, with one who even lived there! That "fortunate" man told me he lived on the top floor and had to walk upstairs!
I can't even describe how envious I am of you. I wish I was able to go into the mysterious walls of the city. Its a shame that it was taken down. Even though many looked at KWC as a shame to Hong Kong, I think it is incredibly interesting and intriguing. Reminds me of one of those dystopian novels. Props for the video!
Kind of like a blade runner distopian futuristic city so disgusting but I kinda wanna live there
Thanks Kostic apparently Ridley Scott got his ideas for Blade Runner from the KWC,
I never heard city of Kowloon before until i played a game called Shenmue 2 back in 2002. The final fight scene took place on the rooftop of the tallest building in Kowloon. Great game..
+Ryo Gumay Interesting. If you find a video of the gameplay post a link here. Thanks
th-cam.com/video/FtxZCg9Bdp0/w-d-xo.html
Hello Mr Frost, we are 6 vfx students and we are crafting a short film which is set in the Walled City !
We are gonna make the city in almost full CGI and this video among others is really inspiring for us as a reference.
We would hope that you'd agree us using some parts of your video in our end credits so the audience can see archive footage of this amazing place. We would credit you ofc. Thank you !
Ok you can use it for end credits. Please send me a link or post it on here.
The peak of freedom and evil in the exoticity of the Chinese world with imaginations unchecked. Thanks for uploading Rob. It's a great footage.
+Qin He - Great comment! Thanks a lot.
Matt Ho even though it was run by triad it was not evil, just another city. Every city has drugs and prostitution and gangs, and if anything the gangs there kept law and order and we're basically took the role of the government and police. The people had a sense of community seldom found in other communities of that size.
1987年の当時の日本のテレビ番組「地球発22時」(毎日放送テレビ mbs-tv osaka japan )にも取り上げ 日本でも放送されました
それは興味深いですね、ありがとう
@@robfrost6128さん、ありがとうございます😺😺😺、先程の当時、日本で放送された「地球発22時」と言う番組は、日本の横浜の「放送ライブラリーセンター」なら、きっと、「地球発22時」の映像資料があるかも知れません😿😿😿
How did you manage to film this? Not very discreet to walk around with a big 90s camera in a walled dense city full of gangs not eager to have themselves caught on tape...
Good question. For starters despite living there I dressed like a tourist. In Hong Kong the gangs might "chop" each other every now and again but very rarely touched us Gweilos and never tourists.
You will also notice that there aren't many shots of people directly. The place was heaving with people but I filmed in places where there were few about.
The shot at the end (4:26) of the guys in the factory/shop I got by holding the camera sideways against my chest. I saw loads of these little factories but wasn't brave enough to film inside but felt I had to get one on film before I left.
Straight after that shot you see a guy walk past me carrying sacks. When I saw him coming I turned the camera to make it look like I was panning around but he had sussed out what I was doing. You see the camera shake when he hits me with the corner of a sack. There was plenty of room to pass, he was letting me know I wasn't welcome. I left after that.
The guy with the coke bottle (3:04) wasn't being that friendly either.
Thanks for asking.
@@robfrost6128 That is creepy and amazing. And what a perfect shot that is at 3:22 where you zoom in on the woman that looks at you, then a person walks in the way.
Great Job.
Btw, what is this music?
@@julzyboy8960 Thanks. The music is Jan Hammer. Very popular at the time due to Miami Vice TV show. 1st one called 'Trance' the second 'One way out'.
@@robfrost6128 You've got a sharp memory!
@@4g63t8 Thanks. I'm glad I give that impression ;-)
Dear Mr Frost.
I'm a huge fan of this footage and of Walled City in general. I believe your footage is of great value, due to the increasing importance on the shown aestetics in polular culture. This place is where it all came from...
I'm working on a reflective piece about the life inside the Walled City and I was wondering whether I can use your footage? I will of course credit you and link viewers to your video in the description. Please let me know. Thanks in advance.
all the shops remind me of walking through a swapmeet
Haha well spotted! No I think she must have been scratching her ear. Mobile phones in those days where about a foot tall and very expensive. If you went to a very expensive bar or restaurant it was common for the wealthy locals to all put their phones, standing upright, in the middle of the tables like a mini Hong Kong skyline. When one of the phones would ring the owner would look around the room and make sure everyone had noticed before answering it.
Holy cow, that’s pure gold content right there. I’m pretty sure some people aged 40 to 80 today had actually been there and lived there before. A population density of KWC means that you would jam in 7,725,000,000 people to live in the size of Delaware state or Brunei or even Palestine or roughly 2,377 square miles.
Holy cow indeed X1. 1 person per square metre!
Hi Rob, Curious to know why it looks like there isn't much people in your 1990 video? I heard that that it was densely populated with 30000 people. Is that because most residents moved to their new homes and so the city was almost emptied by the time you filmed ? Thank you (or anyone who can provide a reason) for your reply in advance.
Hi Lok lok good question. At the time of filming some people had already moved out but the main reason you don't see a lot of people is because I was too scared to film in places were it was crowded. Imagine you are visiting the dodgiest area of your local town. How would the people react if you walked round filming them. ;-)
Hey Rob, I'm a middle school student and I have to make a documentary on the walled city for a history assignment, I was hoping I could use some of your footage in a non - profit educational institute?
+azaan maria Hi azaan sorry I only just saw this. Probably too late now but if not you are welcome to use it with due credit. Let me know if you do.
Hi Mr Frost, we're working on produce a video about the Walled City, and we'd love to use some of your footage if you'd allow it. We would credit you, please let us know if there are any questions/problems. Thank you!
No sorry I have been ripped off too many times.
@@robfrost6128 Sorry about that, please reconsider our request.Or you can visit our website/TH-cam channel to see if we're trust worthy. Thank you. www.hk01.com/zone/10/%E7%A4%BE%E5%8D%80
Look like a scene out of bladerunner or the 5th element. Unique it was to be there and see it, but i have to agree with the filmaker, this place was one giant disaster waiting to happen
Thanks Alex.
TOTALLY-AWESOME FOOTAGE!!! and filmed at the best time, a few years before it was demolished, so the population must have already been much smaller at that time.
How I wish I was alive back then, so that I could have had the chance to explore this magnificent maze of concrete and metal....!
truly I cant complement you enough for archiving this incredible place (and time) in history!! and sharing the footage with the all of us through internet. You sir Rob, are a hero.
Thanks Ladnavar. You are correct they had already started relocating people when I filmed this.
OH my god. Thank you so much for filming this. I always curious how it looked like inside this "city". Thank you so much for taking your time to transfer it into digital and share it with the world. Appreiated.
It has been a pleasure. Thank you for your kind words.
The only westerner I know of that lived there was Jackie Pullinger the missionary who worked with drug addicts. It was one of the worlds largest opium producing centres.
Because it was a British colony at the time, everywhere in Hong Kong had both Chinese and English street signs. It might have been a legal thing.
Thank you, this was very interesting. 10/10.
Many thanks dullsearake
勾起好多童年回憶、經典、回味，雖那時好多横街窄巷
Many thanks Yip Lam Chan! Google Translation -
"Bring up a lot of childhood memories, classics, aftertaste, although at that time a lot of narrow streets"
Did you visit there or live there? (你去过那里或住在那里吗？)
Yes，l was live this
@@yiplamchan6177 哇！ 你可以讲一些故事
Its like of of the Mega Blocks in Judge Dredd!
Needed to Google that but yes I see what you mean. Thanks.
I was there with my school class 🙂
One day underground 😎
Really? What year was that?
Rob Frost hey Rob, must have been 1992.
My school ( GSIS) organised the trip.
We had lunch at a underground kindergarten, everything was dark and wet. Little shops and I remember a dentist operating underground.
Thinking about it now i was so lucky to see all that with my own eyes.
@@Benjamin-ib4to That's amazing! You're only the second person that has posted a comment on here in 8 years saying they had been inside. The teacher who decided to take their students to see KWC before it was demolished showed great bravery and foresight.
It is so fascinating to me how was this place even built, and how did it even become and end up looking like this!
It reminds me a lot of many similar smaller neighbourhoods I saw when I was in China.
Thanks Vasilije the story is quite interesting. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City
How did they manage to build all of that, its alot of concrete in there
Thanks BB. I think most were built one on top of the other. Not a planned building just growing a bit like an ants nest.
I visited there back in the late 80s with my father...
That was when it was most densely populated. Did you go inside?
Yes we did. He wanted to show me the different businesses in there. He told me about a friend who lived there years ago back in the 70s. I didn't think much of it then, but now when i look back, that place was an abomination. I felt bad for those living under those conditions.
zcarenow wow how interesting! :)
zcarenow n u r alive?
hi Bob, me too, cuz that film i came here, thanks for your records.
Thanks Lala good to know.
This is a very interesting and unique video Mr Frost. It has fascinated me since the first time I watched it. It must have been quite scary to walk down those dark corridors. By the way, what was that man at 3:00 pointing at you? It looked like a gun or something but I am not sure.
Thanks Mr Hommes. It was quite scary but I wasn't that worried about violence. I dressed like a tourist with an 'I heart HK' t-shirt etc. Violence in HK was usually between triad gangs and never against tourists. What I was scared of was getting lost. It was a labyrinth of dark passages and I had to remember my way back out. The thing the bloke pointed at me was a traditional style coca cola bottle. I took it as a sort of greeting like "cheers, we're keeping an eye on you". I didn't see him until the camera came into focus. You can see the camera shake when I realised and moved on. That was the scariest bit.
this was behind of "the economic miracle of Hong Kong"
I'm getting bladerunner vibes.
It's so creepy and interesting. I am very amazed at this city. But if it had stayed up, crime in the city would continue and it was dying. It was time to put it out of it's misery before it became worse.
Thanks Cyclonise Rose I agree entirely.
I don't know how exactly to describe it. I've developed an interest in some "creepy" aspects from the 1960s-1990s and Kowloon city just fits what I imagine but it was a little too run down.
what in the fuck in this hong kong fucking mdma fest and why am i jealous
Historically it wasn't really a case of "turning a blind eye" - more that there was NO government at all. In the Lease of the New Territories to Great Britain in 1898, Kowloon City was excluded, so was, theoretically still a part of the Quing Empire of Greater China. However, it was cut off from the 'mainland' by the British colony, so was effectively left utterly to its own totally unregulated devices.
とっても貴重な映像で嬉しいです(*^^*)
18/5000
ありがとう（* ^^ *）
Thanks Caitlin. It was a fascinating place but also had people living in appalling conditions and sanitation. Hong Kong still has conditions that are not dissimilar. Just search youtube for 'cage homes in hong kong'.
weird.. The homeless people of china back then were so creative and adaptive, it seems! If you gave 33thousand of the homeless people in my city of portland, oregon a plot to live on they would turn it into a giant pile of garbage and tents and needles... (oh wait.. they already do that haha..)
Thanks for your comment Benji. I will say however, the people living in KWC were not homeless. They were mostly hard working people who had low paid jobs and lived there because it was cheap.
When the city is so dense, so called "streets" are just alleys
special social group ! ! poverty but peaceful ! !
九龍城寨
This unique "wall town" is truly outlaw area
I know it because I have lived there for 3 decades
Wow! I bet you have some stories to tell.
I cant imagine what it would have been like living there for multiple years and thank you Rob Frost for allowing me to experience this second hand
Thanks @3ru457. It has been a pleasure.