One of a Kind: The Kowloon Walled City Through the Eyes of Photographer Greg Girard

Christopher DewolfApril 25, 2019

A unique quirk of history created one of the strangest and most fascinating urban settlements the world has ever seen. ...

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Hong Kong’s Modern Heritage, Part III: Choi Hung, the Rainbow Estate

Christopher DewolfMarch 20, 2019

Choi Hung changed the way Hong Kong built public housing – and its unique appearance has given it a second life as a tourist attraction....

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Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part III: Squatter Factories

Christopher DewolfFebruary 6, 2019

Hong Kong became an industrial powerhouse thanks in part to informal factories run out of shantytowns and residential flats....

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Hong Kong’s Missing Trees

Christopher DewolfJanuary 24, 2019

The destruction of Typhoon Mangkhut underscored the precarious nature of Hong Kong's urban forest. ...

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Neighbourhood Guide: Wong Chuk Hang, a Factory for Creativity

Zabrina LoJanuary 17, 2019

An old industrial area on the south side of Hong Kong Island has been reborn as an art and design district....

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The Last Remnant of Kai Tak: Inside the Half-Destroyed Airport Fire Station With HK Urbex

Christopher DewolfDecember 19, 2018

Zolima CityMag teams up with a crew of urban explorers to survey the last remnant of Kai Tak Airport before it is redeveloped....

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A French Design Duo Daydream About How to Improve Hong Kong’s Urban Space

Catherine ShawNovember 28, 2018

Designers Erwan and Ronan Bouroullec offer a greener vision of urban life, one that is particularly relevant in city where nature is relegated to the periphery....

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ESKYIU PLAYKITS: A Shape-Shifting Exhibition That Changes Every Day

Christopher DewolfNovember 15, 2018

Bringing together sports, dialogue and music, ESKYIU PLAYKITS is an architectural retrospective unlike any other...

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Neighbourhood Guide: Sham Shui Po is Hong Kong’s Most Quintessential Neighbourhood

Janice ChenNovember 7, 2018

Sham Shui Po captures Hong Kong's industrious spirit, both past and present. ...

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Hong Kong’s Train to China: A Brief History of the Kowloon-Canton Railway

Christopher DewolfNovember 7, 2018

As Hong Kong opens its new high-speed rail link to mainland China, we look back at its original cross-border railway....

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Inside the Famously Haunted Nam Koo Terrace With HK Urbex

Christopher DewolfOctober 25, 2018

A group of urban explorers seek out and document Hong Kong's abandoned buildings. ...

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Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part I: A City That Made Things

Christopher DewolfOctober 11, 2018

A group of amateur historians is investigating Hong Kong's long and diverse industrial past....

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What Does the Future Hold for Victoria Harbour?

Christopher DewolfOctober 4, 2018

Millions of people live within a 10-minute walk of Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong’s most important natural asset and the very reason the city exists in the first place. But most of them would have a hard time finding their way to the shore past the roadways and fences that divide it from the city. Even […]...

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Two Australian Photographers are Capturing Old Hong Kong Before it Disappears

Christopher DewolfSeptember 26, 2018

A new series of photographs captures the lively scene of Hong Kong's old shops and hawker stalls – before they disappear....

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Neighbourhood Guide: A Sense of Community in To Kwa Wan

Janice ChenSeptember 6, 2018

To Kwa Wan has long been off the radar – but not for long. As the MTR builds a new line, we explore the nooks and crannies of this underrated corner of Kowloon....

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Island Stories, Part II: Hong Kong’s Disappearing Islands

Ryan KilpatrickJuly 25, 2018

Hong Kong is made up of 263 islands – but that number is smaller than it once was, and it may shrink even more in the future....

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Hong Kong’s Vanished Beaches

Christopher DewolfJune 20, 2018

Some of Hong Kong's most popular beaches were once located in the heart of the city....

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Hong Kong Wants You to Hang Out at the Recycling Depot

Christopher DewolfJune 13, 2018

A new network of Community Green Stations bring together neighbourhood recycling facilities, public gathering spaces and attractive design – all in a bid to reduce Hong Kong's wastefulness....

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The Vertical City, Part VI: A Hundred Hong Kong Towers at the Venice Biennale

Christopher DewolfMay 31, 2018

Hong Kong brings its skyscrapers to the world’s largest architecture exhibition, asking how high-rise living can become more humane...

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Sham Shui Po: The Future of Hong Kong’s Maker Hub is Rooted in the Past

Christopher DewolfMay 18, 2018

Sham Shui Po has always been a neighbourhood that made things – and a new generation of businesses is tapping into that legacy, if redevelopment doesn't get in the way....

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The Jamia Mosque, an Unexpected Oasis in Central Hong Kong

Christopher DewolfApril 18, 2018

Inside the lush historic compound that is home to Hong Kong's oldest mosque – and a surprising community of squatters. ...

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Hong Kong’s Jewish Governor and the Road that Bears His Name

Christopher DewolfFebruary 28, 2018

There's a surprising history behind the concrete façades of Kowloon's most famous street....

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The Shenzhen Village That Once Ruled Hong Kong

Christopher DewolfJanuary 31, 2018

The latest edition of the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture is shining a spotlight on Nantou, a 1,700 village that was once a regional capital....

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Mak Man Kee Wins a Michelin Star – and Loses its Famous Neon Sign

Cardin Chan and Christopher DeWolfJanuary 31, 2018

Hong Kong's neon signs are disappearing at an astonishing rate. The latest victim: a distinctive pair of soup bowls in Jordan....

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Grey Metal Fences Are Taking Over Hong Kong

Christopher DewolfJanuary 18, 2018

They're everywhere – and they're becoming more common. As roadside fences proliferate around Hong Kong, some people have come up with ingenious ways to make them useful....

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How to Live in Extreme Density: Hong Kong’s Architecture Biennale Has Some Ideas

Christopher DewolfJanuary 9, 2018

This year's edition of the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture looks at innovative ways Hong Kong designers and architects have responded to the city's high density. ...

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A Plague, a Cure and Some Art: the Museum of Medical Sciences

Christopher DewolfNovember 30, 2017

Founded as a laboratory to prevent disease, the Museum of Medical Sciences is now dedicated to the history of medicine in Hong Kong – with some surprising art exhibitions on the side, including a new show by artist Daphné Mandel....

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A Historic Alleyway Barbershop Prepares to Say Goodbye – But Why?

Christopher DewolfNovember 22, 2017

As Wan Chai gentrifies, a quintessential Hong Kong barbershop may be forced to close....

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Sir Murray MacLehose, the Unexpected Father of Modern Hong Kong

Christopher DewolfJune 29, 2017

How a gangly Scotsman nicknamed Jock the Sock ended up as Hong Kong's longest-serving governor – and one who laid the groundwork for many of the city's most important institutions....

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Hong Kong in Vancouver – Part II: The New Generation of Activists Building a Future for Chinatown

Christopher DewolfJune 15, 2017

Meet the next generation fighting to keep Vancouver's Chinatown alive....

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Hong Kong in Vancouver – Part I: Chinatown is Fighting For its Life

Christopher DewolfJune 7, 2017

Vancouver's Chinatown has survived riots and racist laws. How will it deal with gentrification?...

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Starting from the Bottom: Paul Zimmerman Aims to Improve Hong Kong from the Ground Up

Christopher DewolfMay 17, 2017

Urban planning activist Paul Zimmerman thinks Hong Kong needs to improve its quality of life....

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Shanghai Street in Four Scenes

Christopher DewolfMay 4, 2017

A window into one of Hong Kong’s most storied streets...

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Hong Kong is the Most Shopping Mall-Crazy City on Earth. Is That a Bad Thing?

Christopher DewolfApril 27, 2017

How Hong Kong came to have the densest collection of shopping malls in the world – and how it has affected the city's culture and urban landscape...

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The Kowloon Tramway That Never Was

Christopher DewolfApril 20, 2017

Why aren't there any trams in Kowloon?...

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A Market Stall is Turning a Hong Kong Street Into a Community Space

Christopher DewolfApril 11, 2017

Kai Fong Pai Dong, the "neighbours' market stall," taps into the community spirit of Hong Kong's street markets....

A Little BreakHistoryUrbanismWhere To Go, To Play, To Rest0 Comments967 views 0

The World Inside a Building: Chungking Mansions

Christopher DewolfMarch 30, 2017

A middle-class apartment block, a centre of nightlife, a seedy flophouse, a centre of global trade and a haven for asylum-seekers: the many lives of Hong Kong's Chungking Mansions. ...

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Slow Hong Kong: A Walk Through Hong Kong Park

Alice MiquelMarch 22, 2017

There’s a lot of pressure on Hong Kong Park. It shoulders the responsibility of representing the whole of Hong Kong, but it has become such a familiar landmark, it almost disappears into the landscape. It also has the challenge of distinguishing itself from its neighbour, the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens, with which it is often confused. […]...

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When Hong Kong Was a City of Villages: Squatter Settlements and Their Legacy

Christopher DewolfMarch 3, 2017

In the 1960s, a quarter of people in Hong Kong lived in squatter villages. What happened to our own version of the favela?...

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What’s Left of Hong Kong’s Once-Powerful Chiu Chow Neighbourhood?

Gabriella ZanzanainiFebruary 15, 2017

Chiu Chow people from eastern Guangdong are one of Hong Kong's most formidable ethnic groups, transforming a section of Western District into an international trading powerhouse. There are still remnants of the old Chiu Chow neighbourhood left today....

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