Hong Kong walled village memories: a Kowloon City exile snaps its fading history
John Chee, who grew up in a Kowloon City village, photographed some of its last stone houses in 2014 before most were demolished. He wishes more could be preserved to remind people of their roots
When John Chee was a young boy, he would go with his father to Checkerboard Hill in Kowloon City near their home. The hill is named after the giant red and white checkerboard which guided pilots to the old Kai Tai airport, and also features a stone pavilion with a chessboard table.
After his father died in 2014, Chee, now an investment banker and photographer living in New York, felt an urge to return, and wandered around taking photos of Hau Wong Temple New Village, the cluster of stone houses in Kowloon City where his father grew up.
He discovered that the stone pavilion was run down, its paint peeling – but still standing.
“It’s still very empty…almost like a hidden gem that no one cares about,” Chee says.
