Shek Kip Mei - the forgotten estate with significant Hong Kong history

Shek Kip Mei, known for it's estate that borders Sham Shui Po and Kowloon Tong.  Many foreigners may not heard of this area, and many locals probably never visited to this area.  It might be a small area and seems very insignificant, but it held a very significant history of Hong Kong.  Back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, it used to house a large numbers of illegal immigrants from Mainland China, where most of them used to live in wooden shanties.  Then in the late 1950s and 1960s, this area actually became Hong Kong's first official public housing launched by the Colonial government.

View of the current Shek Kip Mei's estates and private housing, and with the "Lion Rock" as the backdrop.

This is one of the blocks within the Shek Kip Mei Estate, walking around this area makes me feel nostalgic.  It brings back some of the precious memories from my childhood.  My grandparents used to live in one of these blocks, and I spent a lot of time running through the hallways, and playing at the stairs!

The Jockey Club Creative Arts Center (JCCAC), converted from the Shek Kip Mei Flatted Factory Building.  Now the building consists of over 100 studio units, encompassing a wide spectrum of various art classes and studios.  It also has 2 exhibition galleries and also a cafe.  If you like art, this is definitely a place that you should visit!

Last but not least, the historical Mei Ho House.  This is one of the last of it's kind that was built in the 1950s. I'm glad that the government has chose to preserve it and revitalized it into a Youth Hostel!  It also has a very nice cafe tucked in the back, as well as a museum about this building and the Shek Kip Mei estate.  I highly recommend anyone who are interested in learning more about Hong Kong history to pay a visit!