Chungking Mansions

One of Kowloon’s most unique landmarks, Chungking Mansions is also one of Hong Kong’s greatest anomalies. It seems to be a little bit of everything: part hostel, part market, part desi social gathering, except of course, an actual mansion.
Would be travelers would be quick to venture here because of their super cheap deals for room stays. This is no hotel, but a hostel for backpackers and temporary stays. The digs are hardly glamorous and the rooms are tiny. While I would never vouch for any stay here, I would say your money goes a long way. That and the exchange rate spots are really competitive.
Aside from being one of the inspirations behind Chungking Express (#1), the Chungking Mansions is better known amongst the locals as preferred hangout for our Indian/​Pakistani/​Sri Lankan friends. Some might shake down tourists with custom suit offers, phone cards, and the like but at some point it feels less like hanging out and loitering. If for some reason you feel unsafe, avoid contact and head off to the next stop.
Tthere is also a cluster of interesting local Indian fare in the mix down in the lobby. Little snack shops, little dives, and plenty to see, taste, and smell. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea (especially late at night) but I find myself here sampling left and right. One day I hope to concur all the shops, but I am safe to assume I’ll never truly conquer this maze from within.
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(#1) A film by Wong Kar Wai (
)

This is what you call Kowloon Walled City lite. A cultural melting pot, maybe a little shady place where all kinds of «questionable» deals go down, and also a place to get a cheap bed to stay for the night.
Yes It’s a bit shady by HK standards (but I think it’s safe as long as you don’t look at someone the wrong way). Also the fact that there is a lot of touting here, may put a lot of people off. If you’ve ever traveled in the Mainland (or some parts of Europe), then you should be ok visiting this place as there is alot of touting going on too.
For me,
— This is THE place for changing money to HKD (Pro-​tip: check out the western union stores for the best rates) because there are 3 money changers right next to each other so they need to compete. Also because the money changers do remittances, they need to keep a lot of HKD on them for sending money abroad (and also maybe for receiving)
— And of course the best place to go for Indian food.

FOR HOLLAND GUEST HOUSE AND CHUANKING MANSION: For the love of anything pure! PLEASE DO NOT STAY HERE LADIES!!!
I relied on
and booked a stay at Holland Guest House in Hong Kong. However, when I arrived at the accommodation the hotel was hidden deep inside a long narrow dark corridor and there were a sea of men in and out of the corridor. I arrived late at 11:30pm with my girlfriend and sister. When we arrived, before we were able to even step out of the taxi a couple of men aggressively approached us and kept harassing us. We tried to fight through these men so that I could find the hotel. When we got through to the first elevator, still a sea of men were crowding us. There was not ONE female in sight. We were trying to look for the hotel but due to the fact that the corridor was long and huge we were having a very difficult time trying to find the hotel. At this point we were completely shaken because a few more men were crowding us and aggressively asking us where we were going. They even got upset because we were ignoring them so a couple of them started to raise their voice at us. We made attempts to push pass them and find the hotel but at that point I saw a even longer and darker corridor. We were too darn scared to go any further. The further away we were from the street the scarier it got. I refused to put my self in danger so we decided to hurry back to the taxi and e-​mail our complaint and request a refund.
Although the hotel did say that there are no refunds I believe our situation could have been given a little bit more consideration. I emailed the hotel immediately and
immediately to demand a refund and to notify them of what happened at the hotel. Of course, the hotel argued that we never showed up and that they have no control as to what goes on outside the hotel, thus they are not responsible to give us a refund. I expected that response because hey a business is in for the business, they want to keep the money. But what was more disappointing and upsetting was booking.com’s response. I have sent at least 3 e-​mails to
explaining my situation and in the very last response they told me that because I had no pictures of the incident and I didn’t show up at the accommodation that they cannot do anything about it. The fact that they wanted me to risk my safety and go plow through a herd of men just to maybe find the hotel in this shady area is unacceptable.
Also, why in the world will I stand there and take pictures or videos of the men getting aggressive? Do you want me to actually get mugged or attacked? Taking photos would only infuriate them more and it’s absurd to even think of doing that under the circumstances. I have demanded to speak to a manager and have not heard from them. I understand I cannot get a full refund but to not even get a portion of the funds back is completely disgusting. I will never ever book with
again and I will never accept friends or family to book with
.
Moreover, Holland Guest House, you have as a hotel a legal duty to your guest. If you know that your facility is in a space where men are crowding around and are aggressive with guest then you should have the decency to give a refundable policy. The hotel probably makes most their money by that «no refund» policy. I’m sure there are enough people to come and say the same about the place. If you are confident about your establishment you wouldn’t have such a concrete policy.
As for
, if you are advertising and endorsing a hotel, you are equally responsible to your clients for their safety and must provide due diligence in researching the facility. I would also think that a huge successful company will be willing to go to bat for their clients. I was placed in a situation where it was late at night and we were 3 girls in a new country. We drive up to this building that is swarming with men, some whom became aggressive. Yet, you think it is my responsibility to fight through the crowd, figure out the dark maze, and be okay with it? I’m sorry but my life is a little bit more precious than you think. I’m not going to put myself in a situation just to PROVE that the facility is completely inadequate. I feel like I needed to actually get robbed or raped for them to give a shit. I am so upset.
It is also pretty convenient that I can’t seem to find a direct e-​mail to their hostel and I can’t seem to provide a review on
.

It sometimes seems hard to rate a place when you have to think are you rating this as compared to top of the line competition, OR for the value it offers even though it is not top of the line it. I often rate more on value.
If you read many rating sites some people write terrible reviews of the places at Chung King Mansions. I think these people are just not seasoned travelers and their expectations were too high. For those on a budget, or appreciate a great price in a great location, then this is a very good option to consider.
If you read wikipedia it says about 4000 people live here. It was built in 1961 and things went downhill for years, but in recent years they have had to spruce it up and make improvements because of fire code. It has maybe 200 – 300 mini guest houses inside of it. What touches Nathan Road is just part of it, it has several wings they call blocks, like A B C D E F etc. Each has its own elevators BUT you have to take ONLY the elevator nearest the sign where you see your guest house. The two elevators go to different floors, so if you just take the first one that opens you have a 50% chance of having to come all the way down and switch to the other. Also some blocks have video of the inside of the elevator so you know who is coming down before they get to you. It helps in knowing how much room to leave them so they can exit.
The elevators are small and its a tight squeeze. Also there is a weight limit. When they get full there will come a time where when one person sets foot inside the buzzer goes off. That person then has to back up and wait for the next one as its overweight and it wont move if its overweight, so if YOU are that person move back immediately.
The building is a haven for Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, African, and more. It also has some local Hong Kong folks too. There are many calling out to you trying to sell watches, tailoring, rooms, or whatever. That probably scares the unseasoned traveler and thus the bad reviews some leave about this place. I would not let it scare you off though. After you are checked in and you come and go a few times they learn your face and quit calling out to you as they know your not interested.
Its handy to have all the services right below you. Many rooms have a mini fridge and you can stock your mini fridge with drinks. Prices are very competitive compared to some places. If your into Indian food you will be in heaven. I love Indian food but had been in India already a month before coming here and my intestines were suffering from Delhi Belly so I didnt partake in the India foods. I kept watch on the pizza guy and when he took out a new one Id often get a slice at 18 HKD. I also picked up a second British/​Irish converter plug so I could charge 2 things at once instead of just the one I had, that was just 8 HKD downstairs.
I cant speak for all guest houses, but mine was very very nice. Safe, mini fridge, comfortable and in the hall a microwave-​great to reheat the pizzas, and a hot water pot with bottled water supplied to fill it. I was extremely comfortable in my room and it was the best value in my round the world trip. I paid about $ 24.50 USD a night prepaid. It is about standard in all the «mansions» any rate once paid is non-​refundable SO keep that in mind.
If there is any chance you might not get there as planned, you can just go to the mansions and there will be hawkers of rooms that get a small commission if you book where they take you. Have a look.
Many guest houses team up and one check in spot will serve 8 guest houses, etc. Keeps costs low. Many of the owners are Indian, and names change on these guest houses a lot. Some guest houses have a few rooms here and a few there, so dont freak out if they lead you away to a whole different block, thats normal.
The only downside is if you get the guest from hell near you. The floors are mostly marble type and sound travels!!! I had a few of these people who lets their kids yell and run around and slam doors. Stick your head out in the hall and speak strongly and tell them to BE QUIET if you get this kind of thing.
You can find the small guest houses now on major booking sites like booking dot com or travelocity or expedia or lots more. I opted to get a double room for one person. So my room had 2 beds and lots more room than a single. Its worth it. That way you can open your bag on one bed and leave your stuff there and free up floor space.

Bathrooms are small, a sink, a toilet, and the shower above that sprays all over everything. There again, unseasoned travelers freak over this but its normal for budget travel. You have a hot water tank you turn on 5 min before you want to shower.
Internet in my place was 20 mbps and after so many hotels at ½ or 1 mbps this was GREAT! If your looking for great location and a great price, this is the place. Citi flyer A21 airport to stop 14 Middle Rd, 33HKD, then 300 feet back.

Apparently, this place is a refuge for criminals. Strangely, Time has this place at number 9 in its «10 Things to do in Hong Kong» article.
I was told to never come here because it’s dangerous. So naturally, I went to visit Bruce Lee’s statue for inspiration and then came directly to Chungking to look for a fight. Just kidding. To explore. It was for research only.
LOCATION
Easy to find. It’s right on Nathan Rd in TST of all places. You will see lots of non Chinese people loitering around the entrance.
WHAT’S INSIDE THE PLACE
When you step inside Chungking, it’s like you are leaving HK and entering another world. There aren’t that many Chinese in there. When I first came here I thought it was one large building. What I think it is though is 5 or 6 towers that are arranged together. I don’t think any of the towers are connected either so you have to come back down to the main floor to get to another one. The place is somewhat of a maze. I found the one well known indian restaurant inside CM and the food was actually pretty good.
You will find lots of random little shops at CM but nothing really special. If you are short on cash or are cheap, I guess you can find a room inside CM too. I don’t recommend it though. They have some of the crappiest elevators here too. They are tiny (I think only 4 below average sized people can fit) and slow. I had to wait in line for a pretty long time to use the elevator. I actually tried to take the stairs but CM is so confusing. I couldn’t find the right flight of stairs to take me where I wanted to go. If there’s a fire/​emergency that whole place is screwed.
SAFETY
They’ve clearly made efforts to clean this place up a bit. The ground floor looks cleaner than the dump it used to be. There are security cameras in some areas and also security personnel. There’s still little reason for normal people to come here. For reference, South Los Angeles is still scarier =)

Once you step into this place, you won’t actually feel you are in H.K. This is India/​Pakistan-​town in a building right in the middle of TST.
The first time I stepped into this place was maybe 8 years ago. The building guards (hong kongese) were starring at me. I can see in the their face that they were thinking. like. what e h### is he doing here. Because no Chinese people would walk into this place as people say its not a safe place to go and has a bad reputation. I believe things for the good has changed since the first time I came here.
Last year I brought my Caucasian friend and his wife here. He’s been living in H.K. for more than 5 years but never heard about ChungKing Mansion. He was extremely excited and wandered like a kid and checked out every single shop what they offered and forgot his wife behind.
We come here occasionally for Indian food mainly because its very authentic, its good and its cheap. The first time was a very funny experience, we were at the main entrance and a couple of promoters were pushing their way to us and handed over their flyers and kept telling you their restaurant is the best one and come with them. The building guard noticed that of course and interrupted everyone and said — we need a fair and equal play here and took all the flyers from my hand. He then brought us to a counter where all the restaurants flyers were listed and told me to pick a restaurant from that board instead. I asked him is that particular one good? and he nodded silently. ha ha
For accommodation I wouldn’t stay here since there are other better and safe choices.
For shopping, there is a general rule of thumb for H. Kese people — TST is a tourist rip off area.
However, if you’re a explorer type and fascinated of other peoples cultures and good authentic food this is a adventures place to check out. I would advise to come here in group especially girls.

If you like adventures… looking back on it, it wasn’t that bad, You just have to know what to expect (i didn’t lol)! Yes its ~95℉ and the room has no A/​C. Yes the beds felt like you were sleeping on a picket fence. YES it looks SO SHADYYYYYY that youre surprised you’re not robbed murdered every time you go in or leave. But if you’re young and don’t mind hanging out with some of the more «seedy» immigrants, this place has a certain charm. When you walk into the building you’re immediately struck with sensory overload by having Indians and Africans ask you if you’re «looking for drink, girl or drug».if you’re dressed down, they may leave you alone. I was in a suit, so i had ppl practically trying to carry me away (aka kidnap). The line for the elevators was hilarious being as it was the first time I had ever seen an elevator that only stopped every other floor. Once off the elevator you find that the building is made of of many different hostels, each similar, yet different. I was a cheap ass at the time and decided on a $ 15/​night bed in a room of 15 beds, I figured «fuck it, let’s see how it goes…» It went… alright. after all, I’m not writting this review from beyond the grave. My bed was bottom of a bunk bed with a foam pad on a wooden plank (no bullshit). The room was ~95℉ since it was summer and there were no fans. So you’re just kinda left to swealter in stagnant air (surprisingly it wasn’t smelly). After dropping my stuff I decided to use the toilet which was when discovered a new thing I had never before seen in my life, the bathroom was approximately 2sq meters (think airplane bathroom size) in it was a toilet and a sink and above the toilet, a shower head… so you could literally be on the toilet while showereing and washing your hands. It was a glorious discovery that kept my laughing for days. After using the «bathroom» I changed and went out on the town. After my 9days in HK I have grown fond of this little shady area of the planet and invite everyone to stay at it for at least 1 night, just for the stories.

First came here back in 1998 and came back a few times since. What prompted us to visit was Wong Kar-wai’s Chungking Express that featured a fictional food place located here (part of the movie was shot here). There are quite a number of those little food stands on the lower level here. In towers, you will find a large quantities of ethnic food restaurant and small guesthouses. Those guesthouses are the cheapest places in town to spend the night. While they are often clean, you can expect to have no windows on the outside, to wait a significant amount of time to get in and out through the limited lifts and to stay in a completely unsafe building. If this sounds appealing the place is for you!
The building itself is a subculture. It’s where you find a large indian community but also a significant number of people from all over the world. It is an experience in itself and must for anyone that visit Hong Kong. It is right on Nathan road in the Kowloon peninsula so it is very likely that you will walk in front anyway so by all means, step in!

The condition of this place hasn’t improved much since my previous trip, lots of foreigners flooding at the entrance and near the lifts trying their best to convince us to stay at their motels (not their fault), the ground level can be quite uncomfortable and dirty and for those who are concerned about accommodation shouldn’t stay here.
The reason why I came back was to save $$ as I had to make changes to my itinerary previously and had to fork out lots of money so since I was traveling alone, I decided to go for it.
I stayed at Manila Hotel and even though it’s small, it’s good enough for a solo traveller like myself.
Taking the lift can be a nightmare! There are 2 lifts at each lobby and one goes to even floors, while the other goes to odd floors. The poor lifts have to work very hard every day and my main concern is them breaking down and that’s the last thing you want it to happen. Taking the stairs is another alternative, but the condition of it is pretty bad.
Accommodation in HK is expensive, if I can find a hotel that cost around the same price as this, I would gladly take it! Unfortunately it’s not the case, the price I paid is at least half of the price of a decent hotel.

I had heard about Chungking Mansions a few times. It always went like this: ‘it’s a ghetto; it’s dangerous; there are low budget hostels, also some good restaurants and electronic devices shops; be careful; it’s not recommendable; I wouldn’t go if I didn’t have to’. So my reaction went like this: dangerous? In Hong Kong? You must be kidding me! How come? Mmm I have to check out this place. A few days later I happened to be around Nathan Road (coming back from a failed attempt to go to Tai Long Wan…). So I changed hiking for ‘exploring’ and, with two others, went to quench my curiosity.
I was prepared, looking like a proper tourist with my backpack in the front (!) and feeling suspicious of anything. We came in, walked through the corridors having a look at the shops in the basement, then came out… that was it? Yeah, I must admit the atmosphere is different, it’s more alien, it’s heterogeneous but I didn’t feel unsafe for a second. I just thought it was more part of an unwritten legend than anything else. There is a mix of nationalities that you can’t see anywhere else in Hong Kong, maybe that’s why it seems different. It’s undeniable that some issues (fire traps, drug dealing…) have taken place here but in the last years renovation works and police monitoring have improved the living standards in there.
Now, what is actually is: a huge 17-​storey building from the 60s, mainly residential but also devoted to hostels and shops. Tourists would know it for the affordable accommodation and as far as I know, most of my acquaintances had a good stay in there.
Also I’ve heard of a good Indian restaurant that I’m planning to go to. Review coming soon.

Ask any tourists in Hong Kong and who has heard of Chung king Mansions in Hong Kong? Nope, it is not those tourist attractions that get the promotion from the local Tourism Board. It is famous among local, expats and tourists because of several reasons.
I believe whenever you walk past it and you will come across quite a lot of South East Asians there. You may wonder what they are doing… well, some are handing out flyers for restaurants there; some are trying to sell you cheap watches; and some are trying to sell you… well, those things… (it happens to all expats and tourists to be honest — they just go straight to you and ask if you want something).
Regardless, for locals, their parents will advise them try not to go or only go for the Indian food; for flight attendants for a certain flying company, they go there for the low exchange rate; for tourists, they go there for the cheap accommodation. There are lots of rooms there, and normally they only charge around HKD$ 150 to HKD$ 250 per night. Of course, do not expect much and the sanitary situation could be as alarming as your safety concerns. I personally have heard so many scary stories from my friends who spent nights there…
If you really are looking for a place that is not too pricey and you can feel safe, look up the one in Causeway Bay (I wrote a review on that place already); that is much better and around the same price. However, if you are looking for stories to tell your future kids or some kind of adventures: do go there — and do not forget to tell me the story in the future!