Hong Kong: Alternative Hong Kong Caged Home Walking Tour｜China

Meet your guide at the boundary of a poorer district in Kowloon to embark on your journey. Your first stop is a visit to a local real estate agent, where you will gain insight into what subdivided units are and how they function within Hong Kong's housing market. This is followed by a brief introduction to Hong Kong's deep reliance on the real estate industry.

After learning about the broader issues, you will be brought to an actual subdivided unit to experience firsthand the living conditions of Hong Kong's grassroots. Inside the unit, you will see a cage home and learn how the original floorplan has been altered to enable the business of subdivided units and cage homes.

Next, a walk from Prince Edward to Sham Shui Po will reveal further sights where you can identify alternative housing types directly from the streets. Along the way, enjoy a drink of herbal tea at a Hong Kong declared monument—Lui Seng Chun, a historic tenement house (also known as Tong Lau) that was originally designed to allow for subdivision, reflecting a practice rooted in Hong Kong's colonial history.

After a brief session with your guide to answer any follow-up questions, the tour will move on to the boundary of Sham Shui Po, the city's poorest and oldest district. In this neighborhood, you will notice how informal businesses thrive, guided by their own unspoken rules.

Continuing on, a walk to the gentrification line of Sham Shui Po will reveal a neighborhood map filled with Tong Lau, characterized by a high density of subdivided units and rooftop structures. From the top of the municipal building, you will have a vantage point to view the many rooftop houses constructed on Tong Lau, built to accommodate even more residents.

Finally, the tour wraps up at Sham Shui Po district. Here, your guide will share a personal story about their own connection to Hong Kong's housing market.