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The Chungking Mansions (重慶大廈) are a famous building in Hong Kong. It is located at 36-44 Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui. The building is well-known as having relatively low-rent accommodations, compared to the rest of the area. Though the Mansions are referred to as a "house", it is made up of many independent hotels, shops, and other services. The strange atmosphere of this building is sometimes called "the scent of Kowloon's Walled City".
The Chungking Mansions feature a labyrinth of guesthouses, curry restaurants, clothing shops, and sari stores. It often acts as a large gathering place for the minorities in Hong Kong, particularly Indians, Middle Easterners, Nepalese, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, and Pakistanis. The building was completed in 1961, when local Chinese residents were dominant at. Now, after more than four decades of development, there are nearly 4,000 people lodging in the Mansions. In addition, there are some foreign currency exchange outfits offering favorable exchange rates. The Chungking Mansions, therefore, attract lots of foreigners and backpackers, making it a symbol of cultural integration in Hong Kong.
The Chungking Mansions are 17 stories tall and consist of 5 blocks, A, B, C, D, and E. From the entrance, blocks A, B, and C are on the left, while blocks D and E are on the right. There are two low-speed elevators in each block, one of which serves even-numbered floors, the other one odd-numbered floors. Stairs are also available, but these are not well-maintained.
The Chungking Mansions contain the largest number of guesthouses in Hong Kong: 90, with 980 rooms total. The rent is low, ranging from HK$150 to HK$280 per day. Since it offers some of the cheapest rates in town, it has become a legendary haunt for backpackers and budget travelers in search of adventure.
It is not expensive to buy a apartment in Chungking Mansions. The price of a flat in the Mansions currently ranges from HK$300,000 to HK$1,000,000.
Since the Chungking Mansions are well-located, tourists can easily get there via various kinds of transportation. The building is not far from the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station, and several airport buses run by it (A21). For tourists arriving from China by train, the best way to reach there is to take a taxi from the Hung Hom KCR station.
Many filmmakers have focused on the unique identity of the Chungking Mansions. Wong Kar-wai, the famous Hong Kong director, chose the Chungking Mansions as the setting for two of his films, Chungking Express and Fallen Angels. In Chungking Express, the Chungking Mansions were at a great contrast with the buildings in Lan Kwai Fong: the former shows loneliness and disconnection from the city, while the latter shows happiness.
There are many kinds of interesting businesses that can be found in the Chungking Mansions.
The interesting combination of people in the Chungking Mansions has caused a special trading environment to develop. As most of the Indian and African governments implement strong trade restrictions on the amount of exports and imports they create, this triggers a high demand for products from those countries. Therefore many businesses are done through importing parallel goods.
Although the Chungking Mansions has a poor reputation for security, there are many restaurants inside that attract visitors from all over the world. For example, some small and family-run Indian and Pakistani restaurants with traditional Indian curry and Nepalese food are very well-known and have lot of customers from Hong Kong. These restaurants offer reasonable prices.
Due to the competition between the very large number of restaurants inside the Mansions that are similar in style, many of them send staff to distribute leaflets on the streets to aggressively promote their restaurants.
| Restaurant Name | Style | Location* | Telephone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shahmair Restaurant | Indian | G/F 24 | 2368-4289 |
| Kamal Sweet Corner | Indian | G/F 68-B | 2739-2278 |
| Swagat Indian Resturant | Indian | 1/F 103 | 2723-7618 |
| Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant | Indian | 3/F B4 | 2722-5454/2366-4477 |
| Sher-I-Punjab Club & Mess | Indian | 3/F B | 2368-0859/9213-9291 |
| The Delhi Club | Indian | 3/F C3 | 2368-1682 |
| Everest Club | Nepal | 3/F D6 | 2316-2718 |
| South Indian Restaurant | Indian | 3/F D1 | 2368-1834 |
| Wakas Mess | Western | 4/F B5 | NIL |
| King of BBQ & Curry House | Indian | 4/F B5 | 2369-7742 |
| Pakistan Mess | Indian | 4/F C2 | 2368-1564 |
| Khyber Pass | Indian | 7/F E2 | 2721-2786 |
| Nanak Mess | Indian | 11/F A4 | 2368-8063 |
There are many money exchangers in the lower floors of the Chungking Mansions to provide exchange services. This is because people living or doing business there are from all over the world. Most of them carry plenty of money from their motherland to do business in Hong Kong. However, they are most likely carrying foreign currencies. Businessmen, therefore, seize this opportunity and set up money exchangers in the Mansions.
The Chungking Mansions have a shopping arcade that contains goods from many . The shops inside sell not only traditional items, but also trendy goods. The shops found in the Mansions are different from those that are outside on the streets, selling articles which are imported from the sellers' home countries. DVDs and VCDs (often pirated), clothing, and some traditional snacks from foreign countries can be found inside the Chungking Mansions. It is a good place to look for people who enjoy to collect things from places around the globe.
The Chungking Mansions are located in one of the busiest districts of Hong Kong; there are many different kinds of shops around the Mansions. For example, the Update Mall, where one can find many shops selling clothing, accessories, and photo-stickers, is a few steps from the Mansions.
The Chungking Mansions have been stigmatized as a symbol of crime. Closed circuit television cameras can be found everywhere. Because of their cheap lodging fee and convenient location, the Chungking Mansions attract a lot of illegal immigrants from Africa, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. The Hong Kong police orchestrate raids on hundreds of illegal immigrants lodging in the Chungking Mansions every year. Moreover, prostitution, drug dealing, robbery, etc. are common.
| 3/F | ||
| - | - | 6/F A1,A2 |
| 6/F A3 Sedique Mess Pakistani & Indian - Halal Food | ||
| 6/F A7 Mabell Time Co. Ltd. | ||
| 7/F A1 First Guest House | ||
| - | 7/F A5 Yat Shing Trade Co. (Rough Gemstone) | |
| 7/F A7 Double Seven Guest House | ||
| 8/F A1 Sun Yins Guest House | ||
| 8/F A5 Tom's Guest House | ||
| 8/F A6,A7 New Asia Guest House | ||
| 8/F A9 New Mandarin Guest House | ||
| 9/F A3 Future Trading Co. | ||
| 10/F A5 Super Guest House | ||
| 12/F A1,A2 New Peking Guest House | ||
| 14/F A2 Himalaya Guest House | ||
| 14/F A5 Tokyo Guest House | ||
| 14/F A6,A7 New Hawaii Guest House |
| 3/F B2 New Delhi Guest House |
| 3/F B3,B5 Dragon INN |
| 3/F B4 Taj Mahal Club |
| 4/F B2 Thomtex Enterprise |
| 4/F B5 Wakas Mess Pakistani & Indian - Halal Food |
| 4/F B6 Harbour Guest House |
| 5/F B5 Ashok Club (Nepali Food) |
| 5/F B1 Chung King Lodge |
| 5/F B2 New Delhi Guest House |
| 5/F B4 Hang On Tailors |
| 6/F B6 Kamal Guest House (Domitary) |
| 7/F B3 New York Guest House |
| 7/F B8 Himalaya Guest House |
| 8/F B1 Hollywood Guest House |
| 8/F B7 Beverly Guest House |
| 9/F B1,B2 Grand Guest House |
| 9/F B3 Happy Guest House (Reception) |
| 10/F B4,B7,B8 Kowloon Guest House |
| 10/F B5 China Sources Co. (China Visa) |
| 11/F B4,B7 Kowloon Guest House |
| 11/F B3 Hong Kong Guest House |
| 12/F B1,B3 Hong Kong Guest House |
| 12/F B2 Columbia Guest House |
| 13/F B1,B2 New Washington Guest House |
| 14/F B3 Da Shing Guest House |
| 15/F B3 Shangri La Guest House |
| 15/F B5 China Guest House |
| 15/F B6,B8 Cosmos Guest House |
| 15/F B7 Carlton Guest House |
| 16/F B2 Building Services Design Ltd. |
| 16/F B3 New Carlton Guest House |
| 16/F B4 Hang Hing Co. Underwear |
| 16/F B5 China Guest House |
| 16/F B6 Lucky Trading Company |
| 16/F B7 Tom's Guest House |
| 17/F B2 Traveller's Friendship Hotel |
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