An argument between two neighbours outside a guesthouse is in full swing as Salina Lam Wai-lung steps out of her office. She tries to mediate, but this time her soothing words fail.
As chairwoman of the Chungking Mansions Incorporated Owners, Lam knows the building and its owners like the back of her hand, and her mediation and negotiation skills have worked wonders.
Since moving into the building in 1988, she's been on a mission to lift it from the dark years of crime and overcrowding and remake it in the eyes of Hongkongers.
'People from more than 100 nations come here every year. We want to show this is a good place to live. You know, there is a saying about Chungking Mansions, that it's a goldmine, an endless goldmine.'
Those two words, Chungking Mansions, often send Hongkongers and foreigners alike into lengthy debate or nostalgic reminiscences.
Eyesore, firetrap, a dangerous ghetto, or Hong Kong's own version of the United Nations - the 17-storey building divides opinion as much as it captivates.
About 5,000 people live in the five blocks that make up Chungking Mansions, and another 10,000 pass through every day. The first two floors are commercial - an atmospheric mix of trade and smells from around the world - and among the flats in the rest of the building, curry houses and guesthouses, not all legal, abound.