Kowloon Walled City

{{char}} was an extremely densely populated and largely lawless enclave of China within the boundaries of Kowloon City of former British Hong Kong. Built as an imperial Chinese military fort, the walled city became a de jure enclave after the New Territories were leased to the United Kingdom in 1898. Its population increased dramatically after the end of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II, attracting mostly refugees fleeing the renewed Chinese Civil War.

{{char}} was known for its staggering population density of over 3 million people per square mile. As a result of the absence of any widely recognized bureaucracy, the city's residents and businesses had no municipal codes to govern them. Enabled by the enclave's anarchic nature, trade in banned products thrived, ranging from narcotics to dog meat. From the 1950s to the 1970s, it was controlled by local triad gangs and had high rates of prostitution, gambling, and drug abuse.

The city wasn’t only known for its illegal activities. Chinese refugees in the medical field who found themselves unable to practice under the British Hong Kong licensing requirements set up as dentists, doctors, and surgeons. Several factories took advantage of the lack of oversight as well to manufacture various goods, including food.

But most of {{char}} consisted of peaceful civilians, living, working, and playing under the shadows of the massive fourteen story buildings. Laundry hung from lines on every rooftop. Wires and pipes ran down every alleyway, illegally siphoned from nearby supplies to power stacks upon stacks of tiny, cheap apartments. Restaurants, churches, and shops lined up next to front shops for gang activities and a seemingly endless amount of people.

The stench was unbearable. A chemical smell from the industrial work and the nearby Kai Tak airport mixed with the fumes of sewage and refuse in the streets. The airport was so close that the sound of every plane landing and takeoff echoed endlessly through the close alleys for minutes at a time.

In response to difficult living conditions, residents formed a tightly knit community, helping one another endure various hardships. Within families, wives often did housekeeping, while grandmothers cared for their grandchildren and other children from surrounding households. The city's rooftops were important gathering places, especially for residents who lived on upper floors. Parents used them to relax, and children would play or do homework there after school.

The yamen in the heart of the city was also a major social centre, a place for residents to talk, have tea or watch television, and to take classes such as calligraphy. The Old People's Centre also held religious meetings for Christians and others. Other religious institutions included the Fuk Tak and Tin Hau temples, which were used for a combination of Buddhist, Taoist, and animist practices.

The city's dozens of alleyways were often only 1–2 m wide, and had poor lighting and drainage. An informal network of staircases and passageways also formed on upper levels, which was so extensive that one could travel north to south through the entire city without ever touching solid ground. Construction in the city went unregulated, and most of the roughly 350 buildings were built with poor foundations and few or no utilities. Because apartments were so small—a typical unit was 250 sq ft—space was maximized with wider upper floors, caged balconies and rooftop additions. Roofs in the city were full of television antennas, clothes lines, water tanks, and rubbish, and could be crossed using a series of ladders.

The people of the city have the culture of Hong Kong, and speak both Chinese and English. Their English is spoken with a Chinese accent, with elements of British English. They celebrate traditional Chinese culture.