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Skyscrapers and Skyslums - Hong Kong's Rooftop Houses

Hong Kong's Rooftop Slums An illegal rooftop house (left), and behind it an HSBC building It is perhaps no wonder that in Hong Kong- the most vertical city in the world, where land is a precious good, almost a luxury - slums don't grow in the outskirts, but on rooftops.  The old, decaying buildings from the 1950s and 60s scattered all over Hong Kong may look unappealing to foreign visitors, who are likely to prefer the glamorous central districts and the numerous tourist attractions. However, there is something unique about those apparently unremarkable structures. Their rooftops reveal one of the most bewildering facets of the city: the co-existence of wealth and poverty, of monumental skylines and third-world-like skyghettoes in this world metropolis. I am lucky enough to share a flat with a Hong Kong artist, who gives me a lot of insights into the life of her hometown. A few days ago she told me that she would visit some rooftops with a group of French photogr

Differences Between Hong Kong and Taipei

I have already spent almost two months in Hong Kong, and the day of my departure draws nearer and nearer. I had already come to Hong Kong twice before, once in April and once in October last year. I had really had a great time back then, meeting nice people and having a lot of things to do every day.  After spending more than a year in Taiwan, I made up my mind to explore the life in another place, and I chose Hong Kong, which is both a wonderful world city and a gateway to mainland China. I will write a post about my experience in Hong Kong some day; now I would like to make a comparison between Hong Kong and Taipei and list off some differences between them. 1) Thousands of Skyscrapers vs Two Skyscrapers Hong Kong is a skyscraper city. Not only does it have one of the most stunning, beautiful and distinctive skylines in the world; but the majority of the population actually live in the thousands of skyscrapers that can be found on every corner of Hong Kong Island, Kowloo

Nan Lian Garden, Chi Lin Nunnery and Hakka Dinner

After talking with my flatmate for several hours (record broken!), here I am, at 5:02 in the morning, writing this post. Outside I hear the first birds chirping, reminding me that soon the sun will rise. But before going to sleep I would just like to share a few pictures I took last evening. A friend asked me to join her and two of her friends (a girl from Hong Kong and a German guy) to visit some sights and have dinner - this pretty much saved my Saturday evening, because originally I had no plans. By the way, I'd like to thank my Hong Kong friends who were so nice to show us foreigners around. First we went to the Wong Tai Sin temple, but it was already closed (at around 6 pm). So we went to Nan Lian Garden, which is near Diamond Hill MTR Station (see map below).   View Larger Map The Nan Lian Garden is a public park which despite its ancient looks was opened in 2006. It is a reproduction of the garden style of the Tang Dynasty era (7th - 9th century). It refle