Schedium

Kat Hing Wai ( 吉慶圍;  Mandarin pinyin:  Jíqìng wéi)  is an ancient walled hamlet in Kam Tin village ( 錦田; Mandarin pinyin: Jǐn tián)  , one of the oldest settlements in Hong Kong's New Territories.  It is located in Yuen Long District, in the northwestern part of Hong Kong. The district borders on Shenzhen in mainland China.  To get to Kam Tin village you can take the purple line towards Tuen Mun and get off at Kam Sheung Road MTR Station. Kam Tin town and Kat Hing Wai village are only around 10-15 minutes on foot from the station (see map below). Yuen Long District, in Hong Kong's New Territories View Larger Map   When I arrived at Kam Sheung Road Station, I was very surprised; I felt as though I was not in Hong Kong any more, but in a small, sleepy Chinese town on the countryside. There were no skyscrapers, no crowded streets or traffic jams. In front of the MTR station there was a huge square and a flea market, people strolled leisurely aroun

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

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