Kwun Tong is a dramatic example of Hong Kong's transformation into a modern metropolis. South of Kwun Tong Road, the old factory buildings of this former industrial neighbourhood are being gradually bought up and replaced by gleaming glass-and-steel skyscrapers.
In the morning, the streets leading off Hoi Yuen Road bustle with delivery vans and couriers. But, come lunchtime, Hong Kong's shift away from trading and man- ufacturing and into service industries becomes clear: white-shirted and stilettoed office workers flood out of new towers such as Millennium City, seeking a quick bite before returning to the air-conditioned calm above.
The overhaul started in 2001, when zoning laws were changed to allow industrial land - often left abandoned by manufacturers that had decamped to the mainland - to be converted into commercial property.
Kwun Tong was originally called Koon Tong ('government ponds'), taking its name from the salt pans that once dotted the area, which were under strict control of the government.
The factories started to arrive in the 1950s, often occupied by small-scale textile and apparel manufacturers. The government developed Garden Estate, now just north of Ngau Tau Kok MTR station, to house many of the workers drawn to the area.
These days, insurance firms, back offices of banks and operations centres for mobile-phone companies are taking the place of the factory floors. The cheap rent in Kwun Tong's warehouses has also attracted musicians and much of Hong Kong's rock and underground music scene practice here.
