HONG KONG, China (Reuters) – Atop Hong Kong’s tallest peak blanketed in clouds, three masked urban explorers took a step back in time as they climbed through a hole in a wire mesh fence, climbed down a hill and marched toward an abandoned army barracks built during British colonial times, likely used during World War Two.
Twenty years since Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule, these young, alternative conservationists are eager to document the city’s remaining historical buildings.
Some structures have been demolished over the decades to make room for development in one of the world’s most expensive real estate markets.
For the young explorers in the group, HK URBEX, what started out as a hobby in 2013 has now blossomed into a mission to put together an archive of the city’s colonial-era architecture.
The eight members spend weeks and even months researching derelict sites before visiting them and documenting them through photos and film that are posted on their social media page.
They have recorded over 50 sites in Hong Kong alone. Short videos show the members shining their flashlight on the prison gates of a colonial political prison, the pile of dusty movie reels and posters in an empty movie studio, and the rough walls of a former World War Two air raid tunnel.
“I just fear that in maybe 20 years time, there won’t be a lot of unique Hong Kong heritage or architecture that really shows that we are Hong Kong, because there’s no other place like us,” said one of the group’s co-founders Echo-Delta, who declined to be identified by his real name because his activities could involve illegal trespassing.
Currently, 114 buildings and cultural landmarks are protected from development and more than 1,000 buildings are assigned a historic grade by the government’s Antiquities and Monuments Office.
The Commissioner for Heritage’s Office said in a written response to Reuters that the government has launched the revitalization of 19 historic buildings since it first announced its policies on heritage conservation a decade ago.
