Kowloon Walled City, China

There are lots of abandoned industrial areas in China. ​​Kowloon located in Hong Kong is considered a special area among them. It is not by chance called the Fortress City. That's a real city within a city that for hundreds of years hasn't obeyed to the authorities and has been entirely run by a mafia. In 1994, all the inhabitants of the district were resettled, and some of the old buildings were demolished. At the same time, several historical constructions survived. Today, absolutely everyone can stroll along the deserted area.

Even 30 years ago, tens of thousands of people were living in Kowloon. The area was considered criminal one. The main means of income of local residents were drug trafficking, prostitution, and gambling. Hong Kong residents called this place it the City of Darkness. In the 70s of the last century, the Walled City was the most densely populated settlement on the planet. The area is very small; its length was only 213 meters, and width was 126 meters.

Surprisingly, this tiny piece of land was inhabited by about 50 000 people. It housed more than 1 000 small factories, shops and schools, as well as a kindergarten, and even a nursing home. It was decided to settle an area because of the high crime situation. Today it's territory is occupied by the park. One of the first journalists who made the Kowloon area world famous, was Greg Gerard. He made a series of spectacular photographs of abandoned buildings. Today, many tourists come to Hong Kong specifically to take a walk on the roofs of the abandoned area and look into old houses that have been very lively until recently. Next - San Juan Parangaricutiro Church