THERE ARE A NUMBER OF AREAS in Kowloon that boast a significant history, even though most of them have been redeveloped beyond all recognition into block after block of modern residential buildings.
Boundary Street in Mongkok is one of them.
During the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong Island was ceded in perpetuity to the British in 1842 under the Treaty of Nanking. Later, in 1860, Kowloon and Stonecutter's Island were acquired by the British under the Treaty of Peking.
The edge of British Kowloon was marked by Boundary Street and a bamboo frontier fence, beyond which, according to author Jan Morris, 'superstition reigned, where bandits and tigers lurked, where ne'er-do-wells went to gamble with the natives and unspeakable things went on in opium dens'.
The final piece of Britain's colony was put in place in 1898, when the Convention of Peking was signed with the Qing Court. Included in this agreement was a 99-year lease of a large area north of Boundary Street - the New Territories.
With the addition of the New Territories, the size of the colony was extended by about 975 square kilometres, about 12 times the original administrative area of Hong Kong Island.