Hong Kong
Old Hong Kong

A rare look inside the Kowloon Walled City from 1990

The Kowloon Walled City, a bizarre chapter of Hong Kong’s colonial history, was demolished 25 years ago. Rob Frost captured remarkable footage inside the enclave in 1990.

 

Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmqlxjTSc8w

April 10, 2018
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Mailboxes made from sheet metal can be found in every old residential building in Hong Kong. However, this will soon become a thing of the past, due to the city’s rapid development and the lack of...03:46
Old Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s last mailbox makers fight to keep the craft alive
June 6, 2018
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Hong Kong’s urban jungle was once regularly visited by wild tigers, with sightings of the big cats until the 1960s. While local history books only mention tiger killings in 1915 and 1942, the...19:00
Hong Kong environmental issues
Roars from the past: When wild tigers roamed Hong Kong
April 7, 2024
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A musical genre for the local market that became popular among Chinese speakers and others around the world, Cantopop is a reflection of Hong Kong, with its international influences but distinctly...10:46
Cantopop
Cantopop: international flavour but distinctly Chinese
June 21, 2023
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For Hongkongers, a beautifully crafted kwan kwa, or traditional Chinese wedding dress, symbolises love, happiness and power. Red satin often provides the background for a rich embroidery of silver and gold threads, with each set taking three months to a year to complete. Wing Lung Embroidery in Hong Kong has been selling Chinese wedding gowns in Kowloon’s Shanghai Street for 50 years. Its owner, second-generation wedding seamstress Ng Lan Fa, has been running the family business for more than a decade. She explains why they only sell the traditional dragon and phoenix design and why the black kwan kwa is no longer in fashion.08:06
Weddings
These Chinese wedding dresses used to be made of real metal
May 7, 2023
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Hong Kong could lose its iconic Jumbo Floating Restaurant as early as June 2022, after its owner said it was running out of money to fund its upkeep. The restaurant has been closed since early 2020...04:22
Old Hong Kong
Goodbye to HK's Jumbo Floating Restaurant?
June 1, 2022
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Hong Kong’s Fenwick Pier, which has welcomed foreign navy ships and sailors for decades, will be shut down on February 11, 2022. Owned by the non-profit Servicemen’s Guides Association (SGA), the...04:43
Old Hong Kong
The end for arcade catering to foreign navies
January 21, 2022
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A group of history buffs set up Watershed Hong Kong in 2015 to help preserve the city’s rich military past. To date, members have conducted more than 40 World War II re-enactment tours at key...04:58
Local history
War history brought to life on HK tours
December 15, 2021
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Every year ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese chefs at restaurants, hotels and bakeries in Hong Kong are busy coming up with new flavours for mooncakes, with twists including egg custard,...04:15
Cooking
Making mooncakes with a five-star chef
September 18, 2021
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Two Hong Kong artists are helping to revive the city’s history by creating miniature versions of various aspects of Hong Kong culture. Maggie Chan and Tony Lai of TOMA Miniatures studio make tiny...03:02
Old Hong Kong
Old Hong Kong in miniatures
July 20, 2021
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There were once more than 200 printing shops in Hong Kong’s Central and Sheung Wan areas alone. They flourished as international trading companies and grocery stores started to expand in the post...04:36
Old Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s last letterpress print shop
April 8, 2021
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Fa paai or flower plaques have traditionally been used at weddings, birthdays, festivals and other celebrations such as store openings. Most common in rural areas of Hong Kong, the colourful boards...07:01
Old Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s traditional flower plaques
December 20, 2020
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For many years, calligraphy signboards for advertising and identifying businesses have been one of the most iconic elements of Hong Kong street scenes. But government regulations that were...05:45
Old Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s vanishing calligraphy signboards
July 26, 2020
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Yeung Koon-yat came to Hong Kong in 1949 and worked his way up from washing dishes to eventually opening his Forum Restaurant in 1977, where he soon earned a reputation as the city’s “abalone king”...01:42
Hong Kong Cuisine
Hong Kong’s ‘abalone king’
May 15, 2020
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Hop Hing Noodle Ka, a family-run noodle shop in Hong Kong, closed on April 26, 2020, after almost 50 years of serving delicious beef offal, beef brisket and cuttlefish balls. In the last few days...04:08
Old Hong Kong
50-year-old HK beef noodle shop closes
April 29, 2020
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It’s still around today, but has a history of at least a thousand years. Let’s take a look back at workers erecting intricate webs of sky-high bamboo scaffolding in Hong Kong in 1963.   01:39
Hong Kong culture
Bamboo scaffolding in 1960s Hong Kong
January 30, 2020
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The prevalence of modern-day drones may have made bird’s-eye views of the world seem commonplace. But as the world prepares to welcome the year 2020, it seems a perfect time to wind back the clock...02:27
Old Hong Kong
An aerial view of 1970 Hong Kong
December 20, 2019
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Most visitors to Hong Kong arrive from the city’s international airport via the Tsing Ma Bridge, one of the world’s longest suspension spans connecting the islands of Tsing Yi and Ma Wan. But few...03:23
Old Hong Kong
A Hong Kong ghost town
August 1, 2019
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Kowloon City is in the eastern part of Kowloon, Hong Kong, near the old Kai Tak Airport. The district has a long history that dates back to the 13th century. SCMP senior culture writer Bernice Chan...03:47
Food & Drink
Kowloon City’s cultural cuisines
June 28, 2019
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Hilton Cheong-Leen, now 96, was the first ethnic Chinese chairman of the Urban Council which was responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, including leisure and cultural...08:47
Local history
Hong Kong’s ‘unofficial mayor’ calls for improved living standards
May 12, 2019
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Hong Kong was once the world’s biggest toy maker, a legacy which continues with companies based in the city still producing 60-70 per cent of the global toy supply from factories on the Chinese...03:06
Old Hong Kong
Old toys offer a glimpse into Hong Kong history
January 23, 2019
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Hong Kong’s Victoria Road Detention Centre has been converted into a modern academic complex for the University of Chicago. Restoration and construction work for the university’s Hong Kong campus...03:42
Old Hong Kong
Hong Kong detention centre converted into university campus
December 5, 2018
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For more than 40 years, Yen Chow Street Hawker Bazaar in Hong Kong’s Sham Shui Po district has been the go-to place for fashion designers and students looking for cheap and original material and...05:10
Old Hong Kong
Yen Chow Street Hawker Bazaar textile vendors reluctant to move to new fashion centre
September 29, 2018