Tracing the Transformation of Kowloon Walled City (2): The Lost Kowloon Street

When you walk along Junction Road and Hou Wong Road in Kowloon City today, you might see nothing more than an ordinary urban neighbourhood. The neat grid of three horizontal streets and eleven vertical streets looks just like the layout in Sham Shui Po. But did you know – hidden beneath this orderly street network lies an ancient thoroughfare that has long since disappeared?

Its name was "Kowloon Street".

Let's go back to the Qing dynasty. Back then, Kowloon City didn't have so many crisscrossing roads. There was only one main street, which had naturally evolved from a market town, flanked by dense rows of houses and shops. Why was this street so important?

Because it was a passage of power – after stepping ashore from the Lung Tsun Stone Bridge, Qing officials had to take this very road to enter the Kowloon Walled City. In other words, this was the closest thing to an "official road" on the Kowloon Peninsula in those days.

Today, when we talk about the Kowloon Walled City, we think of the "lawless triangle," a labyrinth, a city of sin. But long before that, Kowloon City was once the very centre of Kowloon. Have you ever visited the Hau Wong Temple on Junction Road? Inside, a stone stele dating back to 1822 is inscribed with the names of shops and individuals who donated to the temple's reconstruction – tangible proof of the bustling market town that once stood here.

And here is where the story gets interesting.

The Kowloon Market of those days was actually much smaller than the Tai Po Market or the Ping Shan Market. Why? Because this place was far from the political heart of the Central Plains – it was never a major stronghold. In other words, had it not been for the extraordinary twists of history that followed – colonisation, war, refugees, siege – the Kowloon Walled City could well have vanished entirely as the city developed. The "legend of the walled city" might never have come to be.

A street that once led to the Walled City – "Kowloon Street" – has now completely disappeared into the urban grid. The roads you walk every day are, in fact, the dark side of history.

The next time you pass through Kowloon City, look down for a moment and think: beneath your feet, there was once only one street. And at the end of that street stood a city that later became a legend.

#UrbanLegends #TheLostKowloonStreet #RecallingTheTransformationOfKowloonCity #thekowloonyouneverknew