On the set of a Wong Kar Wai film- exploring Chung King Mansions

I had back to back visits from out-of-town friends last week- thus I had to make the obligatory rounds of all the tourist sites ofHong Kong. Fortunately, sometimes hanging out with visitors gives you a chance to discover a part ofHong Kongyou never knew before. For example, I didn’t know that every day at8pm, there’s a 20 minute light show emanating from the tops of the buildings on theHong Kongside. The best place to see that is at the Star Ferry elevated walkway on theKowloonside. Anyhoo, one friend that visited is a Swedish backpacker that I met at a cafe onKhao San Road.

I suggested he stay in one of those cheapo hotels which are peppered aroundCausewayBay, but instead he opted to troll the internet forums and found a guesthouse inside the infamousChungKingMansionon Nathan road. He was originally quoted 150 HKD per night, but since he stayed there 4 nights he got the price down to 130 per night.

I had been looking for an excuse forever to go inside that scary edifice. I’ve been fascinated with it ever since I saw Wong Kar Wai’s film- Chungking Express. I almost went in there once when I was location-scouting for a hiphongkong  photoshoot called “Tryst”. I was looking for a tacky love motel with neon filtering into the window and I figured there must have been something inChungKingMansionwhich would fit the bill. I never mustered the courage to go in though. Another time, we were doing an Indian restaurant review and I heard that there was real authentic and cheap Indian food in there. I never braved it that time either.

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Anyway I needed to experience Chung King and now I had a great excuse as well as someone to protect me in case I snapped any inadvertently rude photos. As soon as you walk in, you’re bombarded with Indian touts asking you if you want a suit or if you’re looking for a restaurant.(I seriously want to try the food there sometime.)There’s always a huge queue for the lifts since there are only two and there are 17 floors chock-a-block with independent guest houses.I felt like I was inAfricawhile waiting for the lift. There was even one big mama who was carrying a big plastic bag full of stuff on her head.You can imagine how funny a blonde looks in a place like that. My friend never really gave it a thought since he has that super easy-going Swedish demeanor. He even had breakfast with some random Nigerians that he met in the lift queue the day before.

[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]Finally after a while, we squeezed into the lift and it was packed. The people in the lift smelled like exotic spices and sweat. There’s a security camera which is broadcast to the rest of the lobby and sign that says to stay calm if the lift gets stuck. The doors of the lift kept opening on various floors. On one floor, were these two dark menacing guys, one standing behind the other. It would have made a great photo, but I didn’t dare. On another floor, some guys off-loaded a bunch of dodgy unmarked cardboard boxes from the lift. What was in there?? Get me out of this lift!!!The Cosmos guesthouse was a sight. We had to get off on the 16 th floor and walk up a dingy staircase to this bright yellow door. The place had decaying tiles in every color of the rainbow! it was like they were trying to hide the dirt by making it colorful and cheerful. There was a communal toilet with a plastic extendable showerhead in the same room. Great! You can drop a deuce and shower at the same time. How convienient! There was also a free communal phone in the hallway where you can make important phone calls (i.e. to your bookie, or dealer or to the outcall massage service etc…). We ran into this friendly guy who seemed to live in the guesthouse. He told us to go up to the roof to watch the lightshow, but then warned us not to stay pastmidnight. Apparently aftermidnightthe cops go looking for ‘wanderers’ who are sleeping up there. The room was impressive in a claustrophobic way. It was only as wide as the small hard bed and who knows how often they change the sheets? There was a tiny dust-covered tv mounted onto one corner of the room. I could only stay in there long enough to take some photos. I remember staying in some hell-hole places when I was backpacking but I guess  I’ve outgrown that now. There’s still always something fascinating about dive places. We decided against going up to the roof to watch the light show and opted to get some much-needed fresh air on the Avenue of the Stars. [if !supportLineBreakNewLine]

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