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Hong Kong’s top Instagram spots: from Monster Building to Choi Hung Estate – inside the city’s picture perfect obsession

  • While the search for the perfect Hong Kong Instagram shot can shed light on once neglected areas, it can also take a turn for the absurd
  • Photographers will do anything to get the perfect shot including stopping traffic and forcing members of the public to move

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Choi Hung Estate in Hong Kong has become a popular Instagram hotspot because of its pastel colours and symmetrical lines. Photo: Edmond So

What does Hong Kong look like through an Instagram filter? A quick glance at the 33 million photos tagged with #HongKong on the popular social media app shows plenty of views from the Peak, and no shortage of temples shrouded in a haze of incense.

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But there are also many locations that aren’t found in a typical tourist guide.

There are countless selfies taken amid the densely-packed flats of the so-called Monster Building in Quarry Bay; cheerful shots of Choi Hung Estate; jump shots performed in front of the G.O.D. mural on Graham Street; romantic poses captured on Instagram Pier, where sea and sky meld together in the Insta-friendly hues of a sunset.

You don’t even need to be on Instagram to understand just how popular these spots have become. Once bucolic hideaways are now mobbed with day-trippers looking not so much for a relaxed afternoon in the sun as they are hunting for the perfect portrait – ones they have already seen online.

People queue at the Swimming Shed in Sai Wan, the last of its kind in Hong Kong. Photo: Robert Ng
People queue at the Swimming Shed in Sai Wan, the last of its kind in Hong Kong. Photo: Robert Ng
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In some cases, the popularity of these social media hotspots has shed new light on previously neglected spaces. But in others, the stream of visitors can result in absurd situations.

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