Kong Fu Fighting

back to Hong Kong, the city was for decades the third largest motion picture industry in the world, after Bollywood and Hollywood. it developed into one of the three most important Chinese-speaking filmmaking centers of world (together with China and Taiwan), exporting movies and movie stars (Bruce Lee, Jacky Chan and Chow Yun Fat) worldwide. actually it would be better to define it as a Cantonese-speaking filmmaking center, which is quite different from the official language spoken in China - Mandarin. luckily, most of the Chinese diaspora, including the big Chinese communities in America, are decedents of Cantonese immigrants, which became a huge market for the Hong Kong cinema overseas.

Hong Kong movies are known primarily for its commercial action films, martial art fight scenes, motorcycle chases and sexy Asian women. The golden era of the industry was between the mid 80's (what else!) and the beginning of the 90's. In 1993, Hong Kong made a record 200 films.

my first experiences with the Hong Kong movies were somewhere in the late 70's (i was very young then, yes). one movie that i remember was a bizarre combination between King Kong and Tarzan - The Mighty Peking Man (1977) with a very 'convincing' Hong Kong downtown model as a set...

and of course there were the unforgettable Bruce Lee movies...

one recent movie is In The mood For Love (2000) that was nominated for the Palme d'Or in Cannes.

...and just to finish with the title theme...

Hong Kong Public Housing

few decades ago, before the "one country, two systems" era; before harbor city, times square, ifc and pacific place shopping malls, Hong Kong was experiencing some interesting events that shaped the urban development of the city. as a British colony since 1842, it couldn't avoid the 'must' monuments build for the local administration (governor house, courts, police station, etc.), some were destroyed during the economic boom of the 50's and replaced by new construction. actually Hong Kong as we know today was mostly shaped in those years, following two major events: the reconstruction of the colony after the Japanese occupation (until 1945) and the Chinese civil war who brought to the colony waves of refugees. private firms and corporation from Shanghai and Guangzhou, who wanted to avoid the communist rule in China, shifted their activity and Hong Kong started its rapid industrialization.

a massive slum fire on Christmas eve in 1953, who left an estimated 53.000 people homeless, marked the beginning of the public housing program with the construction of Shek Kip Mei Estate (1953) in order to cope with the growing influx of immigrants and the low conditions of housing. the first blocks in the Shek Kip Mei estate were of "H" shape consisting of two residential wings linked in the center with communal sanitary facilities. each block was 7 stories high and the apartments size was based on a calculation of 2.2 sqm for an adult and half that for every child under 12 (roughly 5.5 sqm for two parents and a kid...). 29 blocks were built origianly by the colonial government, some with the financial help of the UN, all of them except for one - block 41, were demolished during the past years and replaced by new constructions. today the estate contains 26 blocks with the official capacity of 13,900 inhabitants.

the Hong Kong Housing Authority (founded in 1973) and the Hong Kong Housing Society are the organs that develop public housing solutions for low-income residents in the city and it is estimated that nearly half of the population now live in some form of public housing.

Hong Kong

what a great post to open the year with - Hong Kong! although i visited Hong kong for only short time (2 days each time...), it is one of the few places that i could say to myself: i could definitely live here...Hong kong has it almost all. starting with the geographic conditions, it has sea, islands and mountains. it has a rich mixture of cultures with a touch of british heritage and energies which can be compared to New York. the quantity of the people in the streets, the shopping rush, the strong contrast between luxury and decadence, make you feel that life in Hong Kong is far from being relaxed. it is always on the move, work, shopping, out for dinner and later for a drink...like in New York, staying at home is absolutely not an alternative (i guess that the small apartments has also something to do with it).

the topographic conditions of the city challenged planners and engineers to find creative solutions to the mobility and the housing problems of the city, and they did it in a quite remarkable way. the huge investment in infrastructure, combined with the efficiency the people who run it, make everything work perfectly.

many famous international architects contributed to the dynamic skyline of the city. however, i think it should be seen as a whole and not for the detail. except for few big and interesting projects (such as HSBC of Foster or Bank of China by M. I. Pei) it is hard to notice the quality of architecture in this maze of construction. some of the new constructions are simply boring, but the diversity of the buildings, from shimmering glass and steel towers to gray tenement houses decorated with aircons is what makes it charming. the density of the construction on the existing narrow streets layout, creates many cozy corner and spaces, that could somehow remind of the mediterranean city. in some point you don't even notice how many floors are above you...