Kowloon Walled City: Inside the Most Crowded Place on Earth

Discover the enigmatic history of Kowloon Walled City, a unique urban phenomenon nestled in British Hong Kong. From its notorious reputation to its eventual demise, delve into this captivating tale of human resilience and urban transformation.

[@yo388]

I hope the ai depictions stop, I want to see the real pictures not what some software thinks it looked like.

[@paige6245]

i just hate seeing @1 in anything! i miss the real stuff even if the pictures aren’t great

[@rin-eri]

it took me about 5-10 minutes to even realize i was looking at ai images. the tag was so small and in the corner. i'm kinda scared to think about what the use of ai images in historical documentaries could mean.

[@angelogarcia2189]

I saw a Geographics on this same place. Host looked similar, too.

[@ApocalypticInc013]

Nah, that host was just some generic bearded bald guy with glasses 😁

[@jessiesratrods1210]

It was Micheal from V Sauce.

[@sagenod440]

Double dipping it would seem

[@Nefville]

Jessie is right, that's Hey I'm Michael from VSauce. Uncanny resemblance.

[@jodiecrosby7819]

Better than that Muppet they have doing it now. What a knob.

[@agneshughcheung775]

Back to 90’s , I was a cop , no cops were dare to enter the wall city , even something emergency happened, we went with 6-7 people. And , we were always lost the direction

[@AngelWest58]

found in translation

[@AngelWest58]

(cool comment) is what i mean

[@nehagulati8507]

Jeez that’d be terrifying!

[@RemyMartinVSOP]

Cool story bro

[@AngelWest58]

@@RemyMartinVSOP it was a very cool story- glad you agree

[@dalermehndi4663]

If I could be a fly on the wall in any place during modern times, it would be Kowloon Walled City. There's something so fascinatingly dystopian yet appealing about it.

[@clubjed6276]

It seems like there's never great footage of the place. I just started the video tho

[@Emppu_T.]

Families lived there and the communities where tight nit. There are some interviews of the people from there

[@Overworkedandunderpaid]

Yep

[@RPGDesignatedPaladin]

Wong Kar-Wai shot parts of one of his films there and it really captures the dystopian, strange planet, almost cyberpunk vibe. But if the “cyber” was all second-hand. CyberJunk, if you will.

[@clubjed6276]

@@RPGDesignatedPaladin yea that's what I wanna see

[@jordangulickson1049]

How am I STILL finding Simon channels I'm not subscribed to yet. 😂

[@user-rm4ez8pb6x]

The multiverse occasionally touches ours and new channels suddenly show up.

[@zurielsss]

They do scatter on the YT like Kowloon walled city

[@gregoire203333]

It's a FK mission, to sub to Simon!✌️

[@GhettoUprising]

He needs do a video showing all his channels 😂😂 cause I’m subscribed to like 6 of them

[@jordangulickson1049]

@@GhettoUprising I just went through my subscriptions list. I think this makes 7?

[@gunstarhero8028]

For anyone who didn't know, some scenes of the 1988 film Bloodsport were actually filmed inside the city

[@Kandirocks]

that's a cool fact! I didn't know that, thanks for sharing

[@hbrotha1866]

Jackie Chans Crime Story as well

[@vipbaepsae]

Even if it was a health hazard and ofc nobody should live in such conditions, it's still sort of sad that it's gone like what a masterpiece of people just getting along and building their own community. it would've been so incredibly fascinating to see irl

[@theonlyjezebel]

“Getting along” there was massive gang violence, and one of the highest crime rates in the world

[@rugops6549]

Now it’s an ugly modern park with tall bland white buildings surrounding it

[@ostevoostevo1592]

I remember flying into the old Hong Kong airport throughout the 80s and 90s well over a dozen times and skimming over the top of the walled city and Kowloon generally. You could clearly see the people on the roofs. You flew so low it felt like the planes landing gear might touch the aerials and clothes lines on the roofs. Bye the way, Kowloon or Zhou Long in Mandarin means nine dragons. That's what the posters on the wall in the video mean...

[@user-pu8uh4mw8z]

Ah, Kai Tak. Yeah, I remember that. Pilots would head for the red and white marker on the mountain then swing right for approach. First time I flew in, 1984, I was thinking wtf??

[@52BLUE]

once in a while I like to revisit the places of my childhood. Every now and again I'll find an old house I once lived in, or a school I once attended had been knocked down to be replaced by something else. I couldn't imagine how it would feel to never be able to see anything from your childhood again, had you grown up there. What a fascinating place to grow into the world.

[@DragonKingGaav]

Kowloon Walled City was the inspiration for 1995 movie Ghost in the Shell!

[@JonManProductions]

You mean Blade Runner? GiTS existed as a manga before the original animated film... we do not talk about the live action.

[@oohahitsanrccar1913]

Shame the movie didn't do this masterpiece justice the original manga was insane

[@parkyt13]

​@JonManProductions was just about to comment this lol

[@Erndea]

@@JonManProductionsBlade Runner was inspired by the 1968 novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick. It was not inspired by Kowloon Walled City.

[@furryblue6377]

Kowloon fascinates me. It really does show how deeply, as a species, we have lost sight of what is essential for survival and the luxuries we now declare we have 'right' to.

[@Redmenace96]

It seems a piece of the past, like the American Wild West. On the other hand, it also seems our future because it represents humans doing what humans do- survive. Everything we have erected in the West is a luxury. The so-called Standard of Living for The People.

[@rickwrites2612]

Nobody declares a right to luxuries. Rights are based on basic survival stuff - an opportunity to pursue survival live, be not overly interfered with and mutual aid among a community. Humans have always had that.

[@flagrantmason]

I Watch the Geographics video on Kowloon every couple months and daydream. The last time I watched it was less than 24 hours ago. Crazy timing!

[@darlenefraser3022]

How does this one compare to that one? Maybe I need to go watch it again!

[@MidwestLori77]

DamiLee has a great video on it also. This fascinates me so much.

[@SoundShinobiYuki]

There’s an excellent essay by William Gibson (author of seminal cyberpunk work, Neuromancer) that compares the wildness and chaos of KWC and the ultra-clean ultra-modern ultra-controlled image that Singapore was fast becoming at the time. “Disneyland with the death penalty”.

[@X1GenKaneShiroX]

Kowloon Walled City would have a population density similar to the entire 8.1 billion people world population packed inside of the US state of Delaware which is 1,955 square miles big. A population density of 4,143,223 people per square mile if the world population were to crowd the very first US state admitted to the union.

[@panadocoughsyrup]

Can you translate this for a non-American? Is there perhaps a country with a similar total area to the state you mentioned? And in kilometres please haha

[@adriwirastomo3627]

​​​@@panadocoughsyrup around 5000 square km. roughly the size of trinidad and tobago (population of ~1,5 million people) or brunei (population of ~450k people)

[@panadocoughsyrup]

@@adriwirastomo3627 Wow, that’s insane. Thank you.

[@jamesd9210]

Fantastic topic and video. This place has always fascinated me. One niggling complaint, although I understand the reason, fewer AI images would be nice when real ones do exist 😊 Keep up the fantastic shows

[@lunarpollen]

i had to quit about halfway through because of the AI images

[@seanseoltoir]

@@lunarpollen -- AI images get an immediate *thumbs-down* from me...

[@johnsekhukhune1730]

Wow 2 million people per square kilometer. Now that's crazy 😮😮

[@kayleighgroenendal8473]

Gaza is trying to compete for some reason 😂

[@theonlyjezebel]

@@kayleighgroenendal8473”trying” Israel is forcing them to.

[@kai_790]

@@theonlyjezebel after they massacred over a thousand civilians and tourists

[@kayleighgroenendal8473]

@@theonlyjezebel ok spring chicken

[@theonlyjezebel]

@@kayleighgroenendal8473 is that supposed to be an insult…

[@tjakal]

I hope one day someone makes a digital forensic effort to recreate this place that has captured the imagination of so many as accurately as possible. It's like seeing culture grow into a wilderness in the shape of multistory modern architecture, something that only exist in fiction nowadays and then only because of how those depictions where informed by the reality of this very place. Any fan of near future sci-fi and cyberpunk keep encountering the echo of this place in those worlds they traverse.

[@ali_b_lush2]

A good place to start would be with the postman who worked there for 15 years. He would have had a map in his mind.

[@christerprestberg3973]

Still sad that I never got to see Kowloon, truely a unique place

[@anniebell6846]

Dami Lee also did an amazing job of explaining the architectural aspects of this city

[@tjadams8]

$380k USD for their 7sq ft? Holy sh*t. I couldn't have taken it & ran fast enough.

[@shalolly4310]

So you're from LA?

[@tjadams8]

@@shalolly4310 Nope, I couldn't be further from LA. Why do you ask?

[@Pugjamin]

No, that was $380k per flat, remember each flat would have had multiple people living in it.

[@itsvmmc]

The total compensation was 3 billion, and there were 2 million people living there, meaning... one person got only 1500 dollars. If we consider the 380k dollar figure to be true, it means that 253 people were living in 5 apartments there. There's no way that's true, there must have been a problem with the sources/calculations when creating this video

[@mattmoore3021]

​@@itsvmmcthere were between 35-40k people living there at its peak, not 2 million. Source: I visited the park in person 2 days ago.

[@nicholascrabb1687]

Great video! Would suggest against using the AI images if poss. Happy to see actual photos for longer or on repeat. Thanks as always for the interesting content!

[@user-pu8uh4mw8z]

Served in HK from 1984-87. Not on the island or in Kowloon but up in the NT in Sek Kong. Best posting of my life. Have actually walked through this place, with my gf, heading for somewhere else. 23, young and stupid and didn't realise how dangerous it could have been, but nobody paid us any mind.....apart from a few curious looks.

[@phantagirlable]

Probably goes to show it wasn't really that dangerous apart from the chance of stuff falling on your heads. ;D The way I understood it was that the triads would fight amongst themselves mainly and leave the normal folks alone.

[@michaelmayhem350]

Simon should rename this channel place-o-graphics

[@proy3]

Thereographics

[@mariakelly90210]

Simon, didn't you do a video about Kowloon Walled City for Geographics?

[@LordSluggo]

The actual owner of the channel died, his daughter took over, and there was some drama/miscommunication and Team Simon cut ties with her. Team Simon didn't actually own Biographics, Geographics and Top Tenz

[@StephenMcGregor1986]

@@LordSluggooh wow, some tea, noice Was wondering what happened to those channels Taken over and turned into trash Sad.

[@paulceglinski7172]

He did, but he didn't own that channel. He does Places. Creative control and all that. Cheers

[@LewisZwarteLeeuwUS]

Who was the actual owner of the channel if it's not Simon?

[@paulceglinski7172]

@@LewisZwarteLeeuwUS Shell Harris was the original owner, but he passed just before the pandemic. His daughter now owns the channels. Simon was instrumental in the founding of the channels, but he didn't own them.

[@Daniel_Borisov]

Beautifully crafted video. Thanks to Simon and team.

[@J30YLK]

legendhas it that the postman of 15years only managed 3 full postal rounds

[@NimsChannel]

Love Kowloon. Thanks for making.

[@lovelyangelicslime1594]

Simon I love your videos on all your channels and the different ways when you’re very serious and when you’re just yourself and sarcastic af you’re just amazing 💜

[@7r3v0rc]

I love this channel, all the cool places are covered

[@betterknownasjen]

Love this story! Great work James :)

[@WestPacWx]

Love the new stuff, but I feel like this is the 3rd video I have seen you Simon on Kowloon. Still love it thought and will be here to continue watch!

[@badaxtion1878]

How many jobs does this guy have??😂

[@jacswart6834]

This reminds me of when I lived in Hanoi. Somehow I love the anarchic lifestyle of these cities.

[@Redmenace96]

Spent time in Saigon and Shanghai. The smells are atrocious! and memorable. What I think is different in Asia, is that the poor still have dignity. Their smiles, helpfulness, earnestness and hope are genuine. And if not, they keep a private life innate humanity. They always have family, and they always have a meal.

[@aeroscorpian]

New jacket!!!! Everyone! It's a new jacket! 😮

[@heidigreen8468]

Thank you for the fascinating look into this city of mystery. My only critique of the video is that throughout the audio, there is an intermittent heavy thump. I'm not sure if it's embedded in the background music or the editor trying to dampen unwanted sounds from your body movements, either way, I keep thinking I'm hearing activity in the apartment next to me, pulling me out of the experience.

[@lunarpollen]

He needs to use a high pass filter on his microphone... I kept wondering what was going on outside my house, and looking out my window...

[@theofficialken1755]

I was lucky enough to go to Hong Kong 5x with the Navy. One of squadron friends, CS2 Chan was a HK cop prior to moving to the US. He took us down some crazy back alleys. Wish the walled city was still around when I went there

[@danfeutz6911]

Great show. I can't believe places like this exist.

[@jangoofy]

5:46 - the group picture gets more and more disturbing the longer you look at it, especially the back row... insane compression or AI touch-up?

[@mentat1341]

Its probably a low quality image to begin with

[@jonathanhill6064]

It looks like the front middle guy has no shirt.

[@delos2279]

The faces all look like ghouls or zombies.

[@terrancebrown87]

I’ve always loved this place. I have photos and models of this place just to look at. I wish I could time travel to this place.

[@EmilyJelassi]

I love the new setup with the plants 😊❤

[@parksto]

very good episode

[@scottbush4952]

Thanks Simon.

[@LucasOliveira-tt2ll]

Kowloon is still one of my favorite topics. Jackie Chan managed to shoot one of his Hong Kong crime flicks there once it was emptied, Bloodsport was also a great one using Kowloon as a setting. Interesting that many of the fancy restaurants in HK were supplied by the cheap food processed there

[@rin-eri]

i would love to see a list of cited sources. i'm actually super interested in this topic and would love to do further reading on certain topics you brought up

[@candym0nz826]

Simon! I found another one of your channels in the wild!

[@fosterfuchs]

If you had flown to Hong Kong when the Walled City still existed, you could've walked there from the airport. The old one closed and the new one opened in 1998. A few years after the Walled City's demise. You can clearly see where the runway of the former airport used to be. It was on the long narrow peninsula on the satellite picture that is shown in the video. The terminal was on the landslide end of the runway.

[@hbrotha1866]

If they kept this place till today imagine the amount of tourism they would have. Something straight out of a video game.

[@wwsuwannee7993]

Kowloon was something else. I was there in 1980.

[@wings8005]

I stumbled onto the park maybe a decade ago on a visit, not knowing its history. I was not aware of the walled city's existence when I was a child in the 70's. Since my visit to the park I have grown quite fond of the topic. I now am the proud owner of the two books published by Greg Gerard/Ian Lambert on the walled city. I was even one of the backers of the Kickstarter campaign that funded the second book.

[@qzwxas100]

I can't seem to go anywhere on youtube without running into Simon.

[@hyogacamus7400]

There’s a new movie came out in HK about Kowloon Walled City - it’s perfect timing to bring this back again. Might not have been an international movie but since Simon has a writer in HK, it makes perfect sense.

[@carlospacheco7361]

What is the name of the movie? Where can I find it?

[@hyogacamus7400]

@@carlospacheco7361 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_of_the_Warriors:_Walled_In It’s probably available illegally at the moment 😅😅

[@LeeMW007]

​@@carlospacheco7361English title: Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In.

[@carlospacheco7361]

@@LeeMW007 thanks!

[@giveemdasauc3531]

Another channel from Simon, another sub from me, great video!

[@friskyjesus]

*Me before actually watching the video* “Kowloon Walled City…. Did George write this?” 🤣

[@josefstrauss9017]

Claustrophobic Walled City would have been a more fitting name 😬

[@nickshane5985]

29:23 the opening to the music sounds alot like my dog when she's throwing a fit. Like an almost scary resemblance.😅

[@SparksHardcoreMusic]

I was thinking 'is this a reupload" and then I saw Simon and knew this was new. Welp, thats cool, I am all for hearing Simon talk more about it.

[@jacoporegini8841]

It would make a great setting for a cyberpunk videogame. Extra points if it has elves.

[@StephenMcGregor1986]

There is literally already a game about this called Welcome to Kowloon on Steam. It's brilliant.

[@jacoporegini8841]

@@StephenMcGregor1986 Thx, I'll check it out. Mine was actually a joke about Shadowrun: Hong Kong :P

[@john-doemcalias4759]

Omg shawowrun HK was amazing i was literally watching this video and humming the theme 😂

[@TheItalianTrash]

"Stray" the video game where you play as a cat is located in a place inspired by Kowloon.

[@SwHealy123]

Definitely seen a video like this before somewhere 🤔

[@zues2011]

Kowloon was a campaign story map for the first Call of Duty Black Ops game, later becoming a DLC map for it’s multiplayer, Black Ops 2 did not have Kowloon, although it would have been neat to have had it in.

[@6xCamox9]

And yet another channel of Simon's. I guess you make content on everything I like to watch lol.

[@jamesbrisendine]

Like a mix of Blade Runner and Dredd, minus the Futuristic bits.

[@paulcameron7998]

I saw the thumbnail and thought "man that looks like one of whistle boy's but surely he didn't create a new channel" but man was I wrong lol

[@awbinn3377]

I am so NOT surprised seeing you in the video even though the channel's name meant nothing to me when the video popped up on my KZbin

[@KinoStudentX]

This was one of my favorite COD maps

[@djsinnema]

I had been in Hong Kong early this year, and can't imagine it being any more crowded than what it is right now

[@Squire2222]

I loved the place in Shenmue 2, but thought it seemed unrealistic at the time. Little did I know that in reality it was grimier, more densely packed, more chaotic and yes, there weren't even police. I visited the site in 2012 and have always had a strange nostalgia for the place. All this from an early 00's Dreamcast game

[@KinoStudentX]

How do you make so many vids on so many channels 😂😂 I love it!!!

[@seanseoltoir]

Other people write the scripts and he just reads them?

[@quintontomalin1828]

Fire vid whistler

[@iftikharhusain6286]

May Allah Have Mercy on humanity.Ameen

[@dancing_odie]

everytime i think i have found every channel simon is on, i find another one

[@stephmaccormick3195]

KWC should be preserved. Like Salzburg, Venice, Ljubljana, Berlin...

[@0o0ification]

Rebel Tetris 🤘

[@aaranchristopher]

Clicked on video because Kowloon is in cod black ops 1 map pack. It was one of my fav maps, zip line was fun!! Lol

[@kellinomnom]

Can anyone find that article by Sharon Lam? I'm digging around on Google with no luck. I'd really like to read that article. Thank you on advance!

[@mejuliie]

Tbh, there are quite a few parts in HK that, albeit being more modern, still are as cramped and very similar in structure. When I visited HK 8ish years ago, we stayed in Chungking Mansion. It was quite the experience. And if you visit less touristy areas in Kowloon you'll see quite a few of those types of buildings.

[@Redmenace96]

Oh Brother! I have been in Chinese buildings that I think could collapse at any moment. Simon sez Kowloon didn't abide by building codes? I think they were just a bit below the norm of the rest

[@echoustonx4430]

Simon can you do a video on that circular tower in Johannesburg RSA? Built during apartheid, overrun by gangs and now revitalized?

[@mariakelly90210]

Aren't the Triads also called the Tongs?

[@mr.y.mysterious.video1]

The jcvd film bloodsport features real footage of the city

[@ragin2490]

One thing I can say about Kowloon is they had the BEST noodles and dumplings in Hong Kong. Sad that it is now just a page in history because in it time it was Hong Kong.

[@lajoyalobos2009]

Reminds me of Coruscant

[@A92CB7]

How many channels do you have?

[@robertwalker-smith2739]

I wonder if KWC was part of David Wingrove's inspiration for the 'world of levels' in the Chung Kuo SF series.

[@durandal1336]

Places, the channel of Simon's that takes you everywhere from the slums Kowloon to the back of his head. Let's take a look for the first time at these two unexplored mysteries.

[@chrislail3824]

It’s worth noting that while there not much video that has come out of there, there are scenes in the movie Bloodsport of JCVD walking through the hallways.

[@obscured.by.clouds.]

How many channels do you have??

[@stephenboon7129]

This has to be the third video ive seen of Simon talking about Kowloon City. Surprised he still needs a script to read from.

[@SeenDiving]

This channel has leisure suit Simon

[@Aeonshield]

Thank you! I have been wondering this for awhile now. Anarcho Hong Kong! Woot Also, wtf? Isn't that domicide?

[@user-rm4ez8pb6x]

Everytime I see this I immediately think of the Judge Dredd comics and movies.

[@jeffreywhittle6161]

I have seen the same conditions on a smaller scale in the slums and squatter areas in Manila Phillipines. Not 30 years ago. Right now.

[@dioncrown5966]

Wasn't this the place in the movie, 'Bloodsport'?

[@JoshuaSigloch]

The description of this city reminds me of the anime short film Kakurenbo.

[@MidwestLori77]

I watch everything i xan on here. It is amazing and terrifying.

[@Thelykane69]

Kwah. That jacket is smart

[@jdii5698]

The first 15 minute city.

[@Overworkedandunderpaid]

Right?

[@HShango]

Crazy how they all lived like that for such a long time

[@carlospacheco7361]

Call me crazy but I am fascinated by this place, even would have liked to live in it.

[@artmediaz]

Why is it that every so often, I find a new channel that Simon hosts? Like how many are there?

[@heyang2681]

nice

[@jamesroachjr4074]

I wonder who has more KZbin channels, Simon or Dave Kaufman!