If you are looking for a place that will challenge your expectations, surprise your senses, and enrich your understanding of Hong Kong, look no further than Chungking Mansions. This 17-storey building in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui is more than just a cheap accommodation option for budget travellers. It is a microcosm of the city’s diversity, vibrancy, and complexity, where you can find people, food, and goods from all over the world.
In this article, we will take you on a journey through Chungking Mansions and its attractions, history, and culture. Whether you are planning to visit, stay, or explore this fascinating building, you will find something that will interest and inspire you.
History and Architecture
Chungking Mansions was built in 1961 as a residential and commercial complex. Its name comes from the nearby Chungking Road, which was named after the former capital of China during the Second World War. Over the years, Chungking Mansions became a hub for immigrants, refugees, traders, and tourists, who transformed the building into a multicultural and multifunctional space. Today, Chungking Mansions consists of five blocks, each with its own entrance, elevator, and security system.
The blocks are connected by a maze of corridors, staircases, and shops on the lower floors. The upper floors house over 80 guesthouses, which offer some of the cheapest and most diverse accommodation options in Hong Kong. Chungking Mansions is not only a place to sleep, but also a place to live, work, and socialize.
Diversity and Community
One of the most remarkable features of Chungking Mansions is its ethnic and cultural diversity. It is estimated that the building hosts people from over 120 countries and regions, including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ghana, Turkey, and many more. The building is also home to various religious groups, such as Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Christians, who coexist peacefully and respectfully. Chungking Mansions is not only a melting pot, but also a mosaic of different cultures and identities.
The building is also a vibrant and dynamic community, where people engage in various social and economic activities and interactions. You can find traders, vendors, workers, students, artists, activists, and volunteers, who contribute to the livelihood and development of the building and its inhabitants. Chungking Mansions is not only a building, but also a society, with its own rules, norms, and values.
Food and Shopping
One of the main attractions of Chungking Mansions is its food and shopping options. The building offers a wide range of cuisines and products from different parts of the world, at affordable prices and with authentic flavors. You can find restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and stalls that serve dishes such as curry, kebab, biryani, roti, dal, samosa, falafel, pizza, and noodles. You can also find shops that sell items such as clothes, electronics, books, souvenirs, antiques, and jewelry. Whether you are looking for a quick bite, a hearty meal, a souvenir, or a bargain, you will find something that will satisfy your taste and budget.
Media and Literature
Chungking Mansions has also been a source of inspiration and influence for various media and literature works, which have portrayed and perceived the building in different ways. Some of the most famous and influential examples are:
Chungking Express: This is a 1994 film by the acclaimed Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai, which tells the stories of two lonely policemen and their encounters with two mysterious women in Chungking Mansions. The film uses the building as a symbol of the city’s isolation, alienation, and transience, as well as its diversity, vibrancy, and possibility. The film is widely regarded as one of the best and most influential films of Hong Kong cinema, and has won several awards and accolades.
Ghetto at the Center of the World: This is a 2011 book by the American sociologist Gordon Mathews, which provides an in-depth and comprehensive study of Chungking Mansions and its inhabitants. The book explores the history, architecture, diversity, community, economy, and culture of the building, and analyzes its role and significance in the globalized world. The book is based on the author’s extensive and intensive fieldwork and interviews, and offers a rich and nuanced perspective on the building and its people.
The World of Suzie Wong: This is a 1957 novel by the British writer Richard Mason, which tells the story of a romance between a British artist and a Chinese prostitute in Hong Kong. The novel is set in the Nam Kok Hotel, which is based on the real-life Tung Fong Hotel, which was located near Chungking Mansions. The novel depicts the hotel and its surroundings as a place of vice, violence, and corruption, as well as a place of love, passion, and redemption. The novel was a bestseller and was adapted into a film and a play.
Chungking Mansions is more than just a building. It is a world within a world, where you can find and experience the diversity, vibrancy, and complexity of Hong Kong and beyond. Whether you are a traveller, a resident, or a curious visitor, you will find something that will interest and inspire you in Chungking Mansions.
