Hong Kong and the ChunKing Mansions
The Chunking Mansions, on Nathan Rd. Hong Kong, is a 50 year old housing complex and one of the least expensive places to stay in Hong Kong. The 4000 residents are from a hundred countries. It is a wonderful mix of Pakistani merchants, South African small businesspeople, Nigerian smugglers, and backpackers from around the world. It's not the Hilton, but the rooms are (reasonably) clean, cheap, and safe. The Indian food in the small booths on the ground floor is cheap and good, and the small shops offer everything from African fabrics to counterfeit Rolex watches.
It should not be missed if anyone visits Hong Kong. The Economist compared it to the in the original Star Wars and quotes anthropologist Gordon Mathews: "whereas the illegalities in Chungking Mansions are widely known, the wondrousness of the place is not."
The Chunking Mansions, on Nathan Rd. Hong Kong, is a 50 year old housing complex and one of the least expensive places to stay in Hong Kong. The 4000 residents are from a hundred countries. It is a wonderful mix of Pakistani merchants, South African small businesspeople, Nigerian smugglers, and backpackers from around the world. It's not the Hilton, but the rooms are (reasonably) clean, cheap, and safe. The Indian food in the small booths on the ground floor is cheap and good, and the small shops offer everything from African fabrics to counterfeit Rolex watches.
It should not be missed if anyone visits Hong Kong. The Economist compared it to the in the original Star Wars and quotes anthropologist Gordon Mathews: "whereas the illegalities in Chungking Mansions are widely known, the wondrousness of the place is not."