Dark Side of Hong Kong

Recently, I joined a tour called the "BEYOND THE GLITZ & GLAMOUR: HONG KONG'S UNTOLD STORIES DARK SIDE OF HONG KONG" by Hong Kong Free Tour to discover and learn more about the other side of the city's glitz and glam. During this ~2.5-hour tour, the tour guide touches upon many deep-rooted societal issues that have plagued the city for decades, including poverty, housing situations for the impoverished, gentrification, as well as, the interconnectedness of the triad with drug addicts and new immigrants. In particular, the topic of subdivided housing stood out to me the most. Due to limited spaces available for housing, Hong Kong has recurringly been topped as having one of the world's most expensive property markets, subsequently leading to the rise of small living spaces, i.e., subdivided units. To show how subdivided units look to the participants, especially since most are tourists, the tour company brings the participants to a mock unit, which was indeed an eye-opening experience. Besides touching on heavy-hearted issues, the tour also includes a short tea break at Lui Seng Chun to learn about traditional Chinese medicine and a visit to a local NGO to see how it operates to assist those less fortunate individuals to achieve upward mobility. If you are traveling to Hong Kong and want to experience something beyond the typical tourist attractions, I would highly recommend that you add this to your travel plan! 😊 #historicallandmarks#localguides#旅行酷体验