HK in talks with industry players to 'recreate' Kowloon Walled City

Hong Kong is in talks with industry players to recreate the Kowloon Walled City, including the possibility of incorporating augmented reality (AR) elements into an exhibition featuring preserving sets of local martial art movie "Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In".

The city's tourism chief Kevin Yeung said on a radio programme that the government has been in talks with players within the production industry about the possibility of preserving sets of the movie as tourist attractions. 

Yeung said the exhibition must fulfil criteria such as convenient location, having enough space, amongst others. Apart from physical displays, Yeung said the exhibition may be presented in AR or hybrid format. 

Yeung also learned about the popularity of the movie and heard many people suggesting turning the factory setting into a tourist attraction. He pointed out that the reason for considering becoming a tourist attraction is because the movie scene is set in the Kowloon Walled City, which itself can arouse public memories and uniqueness, and may not be directly related to the movie's box office.

He said that the authorities will pay more attention to and study whether some large-scale movie sets are suitable for development into attractions in the future. If a suitable scene is found, they will discuss it with relevant organisations as soon as possible.

Don't miss: HK expects to generate spending of HK$7.2bn from mega events in 2024

This comes as part of Hong Kong's plan to stage over 100 mega events in the second half of the year, together with events that have taken place this year, they are projected to bring about 1.7 million tourists to the city and stimulate spending of HK$7.2 billion.

During a press conference on 21 May, Michael Wong, deputy financial secretary, said these mega events include 42 large-scale conferences, 25 artistic and cultural projects, 15 sports events, 13 functions related to finance, the economy and the innovation and technology sector, and 11 festive events. 

To further attract visitors to the city, the government is also mulling the possibility of preserving sets of "Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In", the latest local martial arts film featuring Kowloon Walled City that shot to fame, and transforming them into exhibits, Wong said.

The calendar in the second half of the year also includes 15 new events that are expected to bring first-timers to Hong Kong. These include Super Terminal Expo 2024, a gathering for transport and logistics leaders, and the first SmartCon 2024 in Asia, an annual conference of American blockchain company Chainlink.

Wong said together with events that had taken place earlier this year, at least 210 events will be held throughout 2024. These initiatives are expected to draw 1.7 million tourists, stimulate spending of HK$7.2 billion and add HK$4.3 billion to the economy.

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