Front door of Chungking Mansions

Chungking Mansions (重慶大廈) is a famous building in Hong Kong. It is located at 36_44 Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui. The building is well-known as having relatively low-rent accommodation, compared to the rest of the area. Though the building is supposedly residential, it is made up of many independent hotels, shops, and other services. The strange atmosphere of this building is sometimes called by some "the scent of Kowloon's Walled City".

Chungking Mansions features a labyrinth of guesthouses, curry restaurants, clothing shops, and sari stores. It often acts as a large gathering place for some of the minorities in Hong Kong, particularly Indians, Middle Eastern people, Nepalese, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, and Pakistanis. The building was completed in Chinese residents predominated. Now, after more than four decades of use, there are nearly 4,000 people living in the Mansions. In addition, there are some foreign currency exchange outfits. Chungking Mansions attracts lots of tourists and backpackers, making it one of the most culturally diverse locations in Hong Kong.

Building structure and housing

Chungking Mansions is 17 stories tall and consists of 5 blocks, A, B, C, D, and E. From the entrance, blocks A, B, and C are on the left, while blocks D and E are on the right. There are two low-speed lifts in each block, one of which serves even-numbered floors, the other one odd-numbered floors. Stairs are also available, but these are not well-maintained.

Chungking Mansions contains the largest number of guesthouses in Hong Kong in one building: 90, with 980 rooms in total. The rent is low, ranging from HK$150 to HK$280 per day ( as of 2004). Since it offers some of the cheapest rates in town, it has become a legendary haunt for backpackers and budget travellers in search of adventure.

It is not expensive to buy a apartment in Chungking Mansions. The price of a flat in the Mansions currently ranges from HK$300,000 to HK$1,000,000.

Getting there

Since Chungking Mansions is in a good location, tourists can easily get there via various kinds of transport. The building is not far from the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station, and several airport buses run by it (A21). For tourists arriving from mainland China by train, the best way to reach there is to take the KCR to East Tsim Sha Tsui railway station, after changing at Hung Hom.

Chungking Mansions in film

Many filmmakers have focused on the unique identity of Chungking Mansions. Wong Kar_wai, a famous Hong Kong director, chose Chungking Mansions as the setting for two of his films, Chungking Express and Fallen Angels. In Chungking Express, Chungking Mansions was contrasted with the buildings in Lan Kwai Fong: the former shows loneliness and disconnection from the city, while the latter shows happiness.

Businesses

There are many kinds of interesting businesses that can be found in Chungking Mansions.

Trading

The interesting combination of people in Chungking Mansions has caused a special trading environment to develop. Many businesses deal are import/export businesses of parallel goods to South Asian and African countries.

Food

Although Chungking Mansions has a somewhat poor reputation for safety, there are many restaurants inside that attract visitors from all over the world. For example, some small and family-run Indian and Pakistani restaurants with traditional Indian curry and Nepalese food are very well-known and have lot of customers from Hong Kong. These restaurants offer reasonable prices.

Due to competition between the very large number of restaurants inside the Mansions that are similar in style, many of them send staff to distribute leaflets on the streets to aggressively promote their restaurants.

List of restaurants

• Note that the floors are counted in the British style, starting with "Ground" or zero.

Money exchanging

There are many money changers in the lower floors of the Chungking Mansions to provide exchange services, due to the high number of people living or doing business there are from all over the world.

Local retailers

Chungking Mansions has a shopping arcade where the shops sell not only traditional items from all over the world, but also trendy goods. Some of the shops found in the Mansions are different from those that are outside on the streets, selling articles which are imported from South Asia and Africa. DVDs and VCDs (often pirated), clothing, and some traditional snacks from foreign countries can be found inside Chungking Mansions. It is a good place to look for people who enjoy collecting things from places all over the world.

Surrounding environment

Chungking Mansions is located in one of the busiest districts of Hong Kong; there are many different kinds of shops around the Mansions. For example, the Update Mall, where one can find many shops selling clothing, accessories, and photo-stickers, is a few steps from the Mansions.

Security issues

Chungking Mansions has been stigmatised as a crime-ridden place. Closed circuit television cameras can be found everywhere. Because of cheap lodging fees and the convenient location, Chungking Mansions can attract illegal immigrants from Africa, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. The Hong Kong police have been known to orchestrate raids on Chungking Mansions looking for such people. Moreover, prostitution, drug dealing, and robbery have been known to occur.

Companies inside

Block A

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Block B

Photos of Chungking Mansions

Interior

Exterior

Shops

Elevators

See also

• List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong

External links

• Chungking Mansions (Japanese page) (http://www.chungking_mansions.com/)
• Chungking Mansions — A Brisbane Student's Letters from Hong Kong (http://www.abc.net.au/brisbane/stories/s919851.htm)
• A backpacker's dream in a skyscraper of squalor (http://www.etaiwannews.com/Travel/2001/06/10/992142697.htm)