It was my second time visiting Chungking Mansions. I learnt a great deal of African mobile phone trade during my last visit here but I was in such a rush that I couldn't get much a chance to try some Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine and explore the building and people before I hurried out of the mansions. This time though, I was given comparatively much more time to delve a little more into the culture and customs of the space itself.
I was already a bit late when I arrived at the entrance of the mansions so (my friend) and I had to locate where the rest of our classmates were by ourselves. Chungking Mansions is a modern, concrete labyrinth. Each block might or might not be connected. If you take the wrong lift and get to the wrong block, the only way to fix it is to go back the ground floor and find the right lift and wait for a loooonnnng queue. You would think that the space and blocks of the building are intertwined with a hidden chaotic system of some sorts - chaotically systematic if you had never been there before. But in fact, the structure / system there really is be highly confusing and definitely not first/second time visitors friendly. We waited for a lift but a cleaning lady was taking bags and bags of trash out and it took ages. And we ran out patience so we hastily ran up stairs and circled the upper floors a few times before coming to a conclusion that we were in a wrong block and there's no other way to get to another block than taking the right lift on the ground floor. After spending some apprehensive time getting lost, we finally found where everybody was - the office of The Incorporated Owners of Chungking Mansions. The staff there was wrapping up their introduction and presentation of the building when we finally sat down among other classmates so I am still pretty clueless about the root and history of the buildings, which is a pity.
I was already a bit late when I arrived at the entrance of the mansions so (my friend) and I had to locate where the rest of our classmates were by ourselves. Chungking Mansions is a modern, concrete labyrinth. Each block might or might not be connected. If you take the wrong lift and get to the wrong block, the only way to fix it is to go back the ground floor and find the right lift and wait for a loooonnnng queue. You would think that the space and blocks of the building are intertwined with a hidden chaotic system of some sorts - chaotically systematic if you had never been there before. But in fact, the structure / system there really is be highly confusing and definitely not first/second time visitors friendly. We waited for a lift but a cleaning lady was taking bags and bags of trash out and it took ages. And we ran out patience so we hastily ran up stairs and circled the upper floors a few times before coming to a conclusion that we were in a wrong block and there's no other way to get to another block than taking the right lift on the ground floor. After spending some apprehensive time getting lost, we finally found where everybody was - the office of The Incorporated Owners of Chungking Mansions. The staff there was wrapping up their introduction and presentation of the building when we finally sat down among other classmates so I am still pretty clueless about the root and history of the buildings, which is a pity.
After the presentation, we were divided into groups randomly and given different missions to complete in 1-2 hours time. But before we went our "separate" ways, we were led to a CCTV monitor security room, in which TVs were all lined up and juxtaposed to display real-live footage captured from their respective CCTVs.
And after that delightful surprise, we officialy set out for the missions. And again, finding the right lift took us quite a while.
The first mission was to interview an owner or staff at a Guest house , which had been notified and agreed to have an interview beforehand so the interview went pretty smoothly. The changes over the past few years for these guest-houses have not been drastic but subtle and certain. Our interviewee noticed that there have been a shift of sources of their customs: more and more mainland tourists and businessmen would live in these guest-houses. Then we were shown various rooms of the guest-house: the rooms were generally neat and clean but quite small and for certain rooms, guests might need to share a bathroom with others. Still, it's actually quite reasonable and nice for a fairly low price; I asked how much it would cost for just a single room one night and it turned out it'd would be $150 only. So I think if you are planning on a low-budget trip to Hong Kong and don't mind a bit of adventure and danger, these guest-houses could be your choice! (For more footage of the interview we did/the guest house we visited, watch the video at the bottom of this post :)
As we completed the first task, we went back down to the ground floor to finish off the remaining tasks. The next task required us to interview a tourist/passerby/shop-owner; and we soon came across with several (seemingly) tourists --> (watch the video below)
Well, it turned out they were not tourists even though they are Tibetan. They were there for business actually; one of them said she's a chef and currently residing in Hong Kong. And they can speak a little Cantonese too! This was my first time actually having face-to-face interaction with Tibetan and it's for sure a pleasant experience - they were so nice and cheerful!
Well, it turned out they were not tourists even though they are Tibetan. They were there for business actually; one of them said she's a chef and currently residing in Hong Kong. And they can speak a little Cantonese too! This was my first time actually having face-to-face interaction with Tibetan and it's for sure a pleasant experience - they were so nice and cheerful!
The task followed asked us to take a picture display the juxtaposition of shop signs of different culture. It's not exactly hard to complete this task because there were lots of shops packed with different cultural influence so we swiftly completed the task. A bit tired and hungry, we found a nearby restaurant to take some rest and try some seemingly Pakistan food. (I am not really sure actually so plz forgive if that's not Pakistan food you see in the pictures) I personally liked the potato ones and the naan bread the most because they weren't spicy. The rest, well, um were pretty spicy and I can't stand spicy food so I guess if you love spicy food, you might like the food we ordered...so ..yeah..
Then time was up for the tasks and we were invited to another restaurant to enjoy a meal prepared for us! I got to try out even more new food this time but unfortunately I was a bit full already then and I couldn't eat much. Still, it's a really delightful surprise and I didn't need to have dinner later that night actually coz I was so full!
Then time was up for the tasks and we were invited to another restaurant to enjoy a meal prepared for us! I got to try out even more new food this time but unfortunately I was a bit full already then and I couldn't eat much. Still, it's a really delightful surprise and I didn't need to have dinner later that night actually coz I was so full!
* Remember to turn the "CC" captions on before watching this video. What the lady said to us at the entrance was surely a "nice" way to "greet" people/tourists/visitors of the building ;)