To Kwa Wan defies easy description. Its old, decrepit buildings are ripe to be torn down, yet its rich communal spirit - seemingly from an earlier Hong Kong - can never be replaced, once gone.
The shabbiness contrasts with the vibrancy of this mixed community of South Asians and locals, a place full of paradoxes.
To Kwa Wan is located just west of the old Kai Tak airport. The first buildings, built in the 1950s and 1960s were limited to eight storeys because of air traffic. Today, their shabbiness is striking: some still lack lighting in their dingy stairwells, and every roof seems crowded with jerry-built shacks.
Residents see the need for redevelopment but are reluctant to lose the community they built and learned to cherish.
'There has been talk of redevelopment for over a decade now but it has still not happened,' said Yeung Chi-kan (pictured above, centre), a resident of more than 30 years.
'As a resident, of course I would like redevelopment, but we would like to be resettled within the neighbourhood and keep our community network.'
