Chungking Mansions is a building located at 36–44 Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The building is well known as nearly the cheapest accommodation in Hong Kong. Though the building is supposedly residential, it is made up of many independent low-budget hotels, shops, and other services. The unusual atmosphere of the building is sometimes compared to that of Kowloon Walled City.
Chungking Mansions features guesthouses, curry restaurants, African bistros, clothing shops, sari stores, and foreign exchange offices. It often acts as a large gathering place for some of the ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, particularly South Asians (Indians, Nepalese, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans), Middle Eastern people, Nigerians, Europeans, Americans, and many other peoples of the world. Peter Shadbolt of CNN stated that the complex was the "unofficial African quarter of Hong Kong."
The building was completed in 1961, at which time Chinese residents predominated. Now, after more than five decades of use, there are an estimated 4,000 people living in the Mansions.
Read more about Chungking Mansions: Building Structure and Housing, Rooms, Location, Businesses, Public Safety, Melting Pot, Cultural References
Famous quotes containing the word mansions:
“The street-lamps burn amidst the baleful glooms,
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Of ranged mansions dark and still as tombs.”
—James Thomson (1834–1882)