Ghost Town

The Single Braid Road Location: Chung Chi Campus, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Why here? According to feng shui principles, Chung Chi's situation - in the southwestern corner of the university campus and facing northeast - attracts "dark energy." It's an eerie spot, with plenty of greenery and prone to mist - ideal conditions for "seeing things." The legend: In the 1970s, a mainland girl and her boyfriend joined the tide of illegal immigrants entering the territory by sneaking onto a train to Hong Kong. Once over the border, however, she got cold feet and tried to jump from the train as it approached Sha Tin. Alas, her hair got caught in the train door, and she came to a grisly end as her face and scalp were ripped from her skull. Now her ghost is said to haunt the road where she died. Sighting: A student from Chung Chi campus came across a girl crying on the road. Concerned, he approached her and asked what had happened. But when she turned around, the girl had no face, only a hanging braid of hair. The Monster Statues Location: University Hall, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam Why here? Pok Fu Lam is a negative area in feng shui terms. People are said to be easily disturbed and unlucky in buildings with poor coordinates. The legend: The Victorian-styled University Hall at 144 Pok Fu Lam Road started life as Douglas Castle, built by Scottish steamship merchant Sir Douglas Lapraik in 1861. At its entrance are four "Monster Statues," which have been there since the castle was built. They are odd, hybrid creatures, with the head and trunk of an elephant, the body and tail of a ky lin (Chinese unicorn), and the claws of a lion. The statues are said to be cursed: any student who touches one is allegedly unable to graduate and risks injury or extreme bad luck. Sightings: People claim to have seen ghosts or "white shadows" near the statues and inside the dormitory building. Hong Kong's "Moaning Myrtle" Location: Ping Shan Tat Tak School, Yuen Long Why here? The site's unhappy history has given it a negative energy, making it favorable for ghosts. The legend: When the British leased the New Territories from China in 1898, the people of Ping Shan and other villages near Yuen Long organized several small-scale uprisings because they didn't want to give up their traditional land rights. They were quickly defeated, but not without bloodshed. Those who died were buried on the site of the modern-day school. Adding to the school's unlucky karma, years later, was the death of a female teacher, who hanged herself in a toilet after being raped. It is her ghost that is said to haunt the school, which is now abandoned. Sightings: A number of war-game players claim to have seen the ghost of a longhaired teacher. Suicide Holiday Location: Bela Vista Villa, Cheung Chau Why here? Its southwest aspect, lack of sunlight, high humidity and wild green areas create negative energy. The legend: Once a holiday hotspot, these island villas have become Hong Kong's favorite suicide spot. It all started in 1989 when a mother dressed in red traditional Chinese clothing stabbed her son to death and then hanged herself in a rented room. She clearly gave people ideas. Within a decade, Bela Vista Villas saw a spate of suicides, usually by people burning charcoal and asphyxiating on the lethal fumes. In 1999, 10 people ended it all there, and in 2000 another three killed themselves. Their spirits are believed to be unable to move on to the next world, and linger in the rented houses. Sightings: People claim to have seen an "evil" female ghost haunting the place. War Horrors Location: 1 Garden Road, Central Why here? Its southwest location creates easy access to the supernatural world. The legend: Now the site of the Bank of China Tower, 1 Garden Road used to be the address of Murray House, which was built in 1844 by the British Army and used as the Murray Barracks officers' quarters. It became one of the first buildings on Hong Kong Island to be occupied by the invading Japanese during World War II. They used it as the command center for the Japanese military police - and a torture chamber where many people were killed. After the war, the building was home to several government bureaus, including the Rating and Valuation Department. But it was best known for its ghosts. Alleged sightings were so frequent, and civil service workers so alarmed, that the government had the building exorcised - twice. Murray House was dismantled in 1982 and more than 3,000 original stone blocks were moved to Stanley, where it was reconstructed in 1998. In its place rose I.M. Pei's Bank of China Tower, which some feng shui experts consider tailor-made to counteract the site's negative energy. Its triangular design and the large crosses on the exterior act as a sword stabbing the ground, eliminating the depressing atmosphere. Sightings: During the 1960s and 70s, people claimed to have witnessed all sorts of supernatural phenomena, from offices messed up by poltergeists to headless ghosts. Psycho Center Location: The Former Psychiatric Hospital, High St., Sai Ying Pun Why here? An accumulation of resentment built up during its years as a Japanese prison and a psychiatric hospital attracted evil spirits, according to feng shui experts. The legend: Originally built as a British nurses' home in 1892, this brick building was used as a prison during the wartime Japanese occupation. After the war, it was converted into a psychiatric unit, which closed in 1971. The building was never reoccupied, and gained a reputation as a notorious haunted house. The bulk of the building was demolished in 2001, although the facade was retained and now fronts the Sai Ying Pun Community Complex Hall. Sightings: For 30 years the building was allowed to rot. Given its spooky rep, it attracted many "ghost investigators" who dared each other to enter the building. They claimed to have many supernatural encounters, with some saying they had heard screaming and moaning. Video Nasty Location: KCR advertisement, filmed in the woods in 1993. Why here? According to various "expert opinions," the woods had acquired negative energy following the death of a young girl. The legend: Perhaps the most horrifying TV commercial in the history of Hong Kong, the KCR ad featured kids playing the "train game" - running through woods, each holding on to the child in front. It was supposed to be a cutesy clip of innocent fun, but it disturbed more than a few souls after it aired. For most of the ad, six children are seen clearly playing the game, but from the 25th to the 27th seconds, a seventh child suddenly appears - and the director swears there were only six children on location. A young girl joins the end of the train, her hair loose, and, even more disturbingly, the chubby boy she is holding appears to have blood smeared across his lips. According to legend, the boy died soon after filming. It caused a huge stir at the time, with feng shui masters, exorcists, psychics, priests and even psychologists giving their own interpretations of the phenomena. Sightings: The ad ran for a month in 1993, before being reshot with no ghostly seventh child. But the campaign was soon pulled. Haunted Highway Location: Tuen Mun Road Why here? The heavy yin-qi (negative force) is an ideal accommodation for ghosts. The legend: The first section of the Tuen Mun expressway to the new town in the western New Territories opened in 1977. Since then it has developed a reputation as the deadliest road in the city, with the highest accident rate. The first fatal accident occurred in 1978, but there have been many others, including the worst road accident in Hong Kong's history, when 23 people died after a double-decker bus plunged from a flyover in 2003. The superstitious say the road is haunted by the ghost of the man who died in that first accident in 1978, with many attributing the numerous other crashes to ghostly apparitions. Sightings: The ghost is said to mysteriously appear in the middle of the road, causing drivers to swerve and crash as they try to avoid the figure. Many road-accident victims over the past 20 years either crashed or were pronounced dead at about 4am.

Ghost Town

With Hungry Ghosts walking the streets, Amy Cheung explores the city's spooky side.

The Single Braid Road

The Monster Statues