The architecture of Hong Kong has a feature that is the constant building and rebuilding. The disappearance of architectures in Hong Kong implies substitution of commercial for cultural. The disappearance of places like Kowloon Walled City which is seen as the disappearance of old Hong Kong culture brings a new type of Walled City, a city of which citizens and culture are surrounded and hidden by its high-rise buildings.
Ackbar Abbas’s article brought me some new aspect to view the city of Hong Kong as so far still a tourist. When I visited the high -rise buildings in Hong Kong, taking pictures at neon lights of the city I saw the prosperity of the city, never thought of that with the appearance of shiny lights comes disappearance of a sense of cultural identity. I always think people in Hong Kong will think of themselves as descendants of Chinese, but with little history in sight and after colonial rule, it is hard to tell.
Huang Xin 3035771294
In his article, Ackbar Abbas situates Hong Kong in a context of the (post-) colonialism history in Hong Kong (see p.65). He elaborates on how this appearance/disappearance reflected the politics and power-play between the British empire, Hong Kong, and China as well as how the architecture of the city has been built and rebuilt through time. Your reflection upon the way you are seeing (or reading) a city makes sense because it is rather difficult to read beyond what is visible. As Abbas would put it, “… it is almost impossible to get any sense of Hong Kong’s urban space through the merely visible. Perhaps the only people who still “see” the city are the tourists. But then what is visible to them are only landmarks and monuments pointed out in guidebooks, while local history means only the exotic” (p.77). Your writing will benefit from elaborating more on your last point: what is hard to tell and what would you think it means for the Hong Kongers being of Chinese descendants?