HK & Macau 2024 (5/9) – See

Hong Kong has far more skyscrapers than any other city in the world, and is physically adjacent to Shenzhen, which leads the third place by another 30%+. It’s crazy how dense the tall buildings are in this part of the world. Naturally, sightseeing in Hong Kong consisted quite a bit of appreciation for its urban landscape.

Kowloon Walled City (Park)

For those with untrained eyes, this corner of residential Kowloon may just be a simple park with a tiny museum. But a legend used to stand here – the infamous Kowloon Walled City. Plenty of history and architecture nerds are crazy about this organized chaos, and lots of pop cultural products reference it with romanticized nostalgia. Architect DemiLee has a great explainer video on Youtube.

Circumstantial events and geopolitical tragedies made this plot of land the densest city to have ever existed on earth. It was also Exhibit A showcasing the kind of lawless mess the Libertarian’s dream utopia might look like. It’s most likely a good and necessary outcome that it got demolished after several decades, but Kowloon Wall City’s soul lives on…

Monster Building

For those of us having never seen the original Kowloon Walled City, the Monster Building might be the closest proxy we’ve got to experience its vibe. What we’re looking at here is a collection of four or five interconnected residential structures in Quarry Bay, that got unexpected fame and this nickname thanks to being the filming back drop of some B-tier Hollywood flicks like Transformers: Age of Extinction and Ghost in the Shell.

When standing in the small courtyard surrounded on three sides by these massive 20-story buildings, the visual pressure was absolutely incredible. Some rough multiplications indicate that at least 2,000 families lived in this mega structure, above two tiny courtyards. I call two big cities home and generally advocate for a space-efficient lifestyle, but wow this level of density was nothing less than intimidating.

Our visit to Monster Building also implied an ironic contradiction. It’s clear that the building and its surrounding areas are a quiet residential neighborhood for the lower-middle class folks. A traditional food market, herbal shops, old school bakeries, laundromats, etc. dotted the streets. The courtyard with makeshift fencing and questionable puddles of water featured a small hardware store, some cheap eateries, a massage parlor, and a… %ARABICA!!?? This pricey and pretentious Japanese coffee shop looked as ridiculous here as Phil and I did. Well, us and the line of international tourists who most likely read the same blog posts and figured they’d “swing by”. I was both glad to have visited the Monster Building, and sympathetic to how much its residents must hate the constant stream of tourists at their home. I pondered on this dilemma as I took another sip of the $7 coffee…

Lai Tak Tsuen

Another cool residential building complex (Lai Tak Tsuen) featured in a B-tier Hollywood movie (Ghost in the Shell) was found on the hills of Tai Hang. This complex was known for having several tubular towers with mesmerizing spiral courtyards. However, each courtyard was behind locked doors. I had written “not sure if accessible” in my trip notes. The answer was no.

Reaching it, though, was an immersive Hong Kong living experience. So. Many. Freaking. Stairs. Although it was only half a mile from the nearest MTR station, the vertical ascent was no joke. Every day is a leg day for people living here.

Other Parts of Hong Kong Skyline

One of the best, and the absolutely most strenuous part of our trip was the climb up Victoria Peak. “It’s only 4km!” Both of us laughed it off the night before while bragging about our hiking and jogging prowess. But it was also a 1,500-foot elevation gain in 90% humidity. There were several moments of losing face when retired couples hiked past us without breaking a sweat, while we took breaks to catch our breaths. Despite the discomfort, though, I very much appreciated the opportunity to walk through these neighborhoods. While we’d generally consider such steep hills as unusable land, Hong Kongers build on them not just anything, but luxury gated communities with many dozens of floors per tower! It was so odd after having climbed above most skyscrapers in Central, we turned the corner to see that we had only reached the foot of yet another residential tower.

As a byproduct of a colonial past and the traumatic wars of the 20th century, many immigrants and refugees flooded onto this small island and had to somehow share the limited inhabitable land. Hong Kong’s cool skyscrapers were everywhere, and they were a testament to people’s ingenuity and determination to thrive.

Macau – Grand Lisboa

Although Macau’s most popular casinos were clones of Las Vegas brand names on the southern island (Wynn, Venetian, Parisian, etc.), the most unique and iconic was Grand Lisboa at the heart of the northern Peninsula. Unlike those clustering into an entire gambling district like the Strip, this one stood alone by the historic neighborhood. It was unapologetically flamboyant and covered in shiny gold like something Trump would build, and stood in stark contrast to its surrounding residential and historic buildings. While it had this visually interesting pineapple design, there was an ominous vibe to its dominating presence over the surrounding cityscape.

Macau: Casa do Mandarim

Historic Macau preserved a few old Chinese mansions, and we visited one that belonged to the Zheng Family. Its Google Maps reviews were slightly above mediocre, but maybe because it went through further furnishing recently, I thought it was presented in an excellent condition.

I am clueless when it comes to traditional Chinese architecture, but this design was far more similar to what I saw in Penang than anywhere else in China. It was neat to walk through its hallways and staircases, while reading about its past glory. Phil and I most enjoyed studying the locking mechanisms of its doors, gates, and windows.