Yu Lok Lane [????- ]

See it while you can...

This quiet lane of two- and three-storey houses looks like an old village in China. In fact it's on Hong Kong island - but not for much longer! There are eviction notices posted on the houses, and an old lady living here said everyone needs to be out by November.

Here's the view from High Street, we're a little uphill so we're level with the roof of buildings in the lane.

Here's the entrance from Third Street looking up. It doesn't look anything special, so it's easy to miss.

Walk up the steps and there's a terrace of old houses like these.

I guessed the buildings would all be pre-war, but the one on the right is dated '1950'.

Looking at the other buildings, I think at least some are pre-war, based on their wooden staircases.

Inland Lot markers in the buildings' walls.

You can see there's already a section of the buildings that have gone. The old lady said the plan was to preserve one building, but all the others will be demolished.

Eviction notices:

Several houses are empty already:

Here's the view from Centre Street, showing the other access to the lane:

It struck me that when these roads were first built, the steep slope meant the ground floor of each terrace was at roughly the roof-level of the terrace in front. Everyone would have had a 'full sea view' - a dream come true for estate agents of the day!