Kowloon Walled City Park
| Kowloon Walled City Park | |
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| 九龍寨城公園 | |
Kowloon Walled City Park
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| Location | Kowloon City, Kowloon |
| Coordinates | 22°19′55″N 114°11′24″E / 22.332°N 114.190°ECoordinates: 22°19′55″N 114°11′24″E / 22.332°N 114.190°E |
| Opened | 22 December 1995 |
| Operated by | Leisure and Cultural Services Department |
| Open | Year round |
The Kowloon Walled City Park (traditional Chinese: 九龍寨城公園; simplified Chinese: 九龙寨城公园; pinyin: Jiǔlóng zhài chéng gōngyuán; Jyutping: gau2 lung4 zaai6 seng4 gung1 jyun4<) is a historical park in Hong Kong. The Kowloon Walled City had been a military stronghold since 15th century due to its coastal location and was a centre of vice and crime until 1987. Under the agreement between the Hong Kong Government and the PRC, the Kowloon Walled City was demolished in the 1980s while the indigenous buildings and features were preserved for incorporation in the new park.
The Kowloon Walled City Park is designed as a Jiangnan (江南) garden of the early Qing dynasty. The park, 31,000 square metres in total, is divided into eight theme zones with their own characteristic scenery, matching with the style of the whole park. The design was awarded a Diploma at the IGO Stuttgart EXPO 93 (International Garden Exposition).
In the middle of 19th century, the Qing Government started to build a walled city, which is surrounded by stone walls in Kowloon Bay. The walled city was initially used for military purposes, where it housed many soldiers and their families. During World War II the stone walls were demolished by the Japanese army while part of them were buried and well preserved under the soil.
After WWII, the population of the city had risen to 41,000 by 1970s. The number of buildings was 503 in 1994. The British colonial government could not manage and control the severe crimes related to drugs, illegal gambling, prostitution and quackery in the 70s. Over and above, domestic factories including textile, candy-making and production of Jook-sing noodles (竹昇麵) were situated in this city. After the agreement of the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1984, Britain and China embarked on the discussion of solving these issues in this city, and subsequently announced the demolition of the City on 14 January 1987. Residents were resettled in 1987 and 1989. The demolition began in 1993.
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