For the first time visitor like me it is difficult to find, in much of the city and Kowloon, much of the old Hong Kong either real or the romanticised view of the old movies. There are some heritage sites and places like the Man Mo Temple are fascinating. However there are signs that increasingly older buildings, and I mean 50's and 60's may be disappearing. Many of the newer residential blocks look to be around forty storeys of flats. This is not surprising given a rising population and the pressure on space. I did see a report online that there places hidden away where poorer members of the population live in what are called coffin apartments (actual size, not a metaphor).
This building in Wan Chai is typical of the older style, with air con units attached to the windows etc.
Hong Kong is trying to become a modern city but the danger is that they may rip out the heart and become sterile like the undoubtedly architecturally interesting but modern corporate look of the Standard Chartered building in Central.
This of course is only an opinion and one formed in a very brief visit so should not be taken too seriously. Also, I would stress, that it remains a bustling metropolis packed into small space but who knows what the Chinese Government's real vision is for its future.
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