Anyone remember the specifics of the haunting of Windsor House in Causeway Bay? I remember it had something to do with some imported marble from China. Have any other urban legends or scary ghost stories (Hong Kong ones only)?
Back in 1992, an ad for the KCR appeared on TV (now available on Youtube) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srGu3fyLrGo . It sparked a lot of speculation and dicussion about a Ghost that appeared in the ad.
An anthropology professor at HKU researched about it, the article's citation is below:
Evans, Grant. 1997. Ghosts and the new governor: the anthropology of a Hong Kong rumour. In: Grant Evans and Maria Tam (Eds.), Hong Kong: The Anthropology of a Chinese Metropolis, Chapter 12. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Anybody know the deal about trespassing laws in HK? When I was a kid/teenager there it seemed anything was pretty much fair game - had a whale of a time exploring old houses and hospitals that got round via word of mouth. Only got chucked out of one place (on the peak) and just got a finger-wagging. When I get back I would love to UrBex and photograph a lot of the old buildings around. Are the trespass laws in HK anything like as ridiculous as they are in the US?
Hi there, I do remember the haunting you referred to, though I was only a kid at the time so didn't know the full details.
I think it started around 1982-3, when Windsor House was pretty new. The main entrance was faced with white/grey patterned marble. Someone claimed that they could see the face of a fox in one of the marble tiles on a side wall. That marble was high up but clearly visible from the escalator on the way upstairs. So there were lots of stories about a fox-spirit haunting that marble.
I can't remember if the offending piece of marble was removed or not. But I remember looking out for the fox's face every time I used that escalator and never seeing anything suspicious.
However if I remember correctly, the entrance has been remodelled since and no longer uses that marble now.
As for other urban legends, there are heaps as you can imagine, since Hongkongers are pretty superstitious. One of my favourites is about how used women's underwear is a great charm that protects you from seeing spirits and other 'dirty things'. eg if you are driving on a lonely stretch of road and you think there are ghosts making mischief, such as creating illusions that can cause a car accident and kill you, then you should hang the used women's underwear from your rearvision mirror, and that will dispel the illusions. Basically the idea is that the 'yin' energy of women will protect you from the yin of the ghosts. Have you heard that before!? I don't know if it is specifically HK or not though.
Windsor House was never haunted. Unfortunately the contractor installed the external stone in the book matched method ie the two pieces of stone were mirror images. Unfortunately, when the two pieces of stone were brought together, the veining pattern resembled a wolf's face so that was the start of the superstitious rumours of wolf spirits.
haklh - thanks for bring back a memory from my childhood! i had totally forgotten that
my relatives talked about using the underwear trick if you got stranded in a haunted house, that a woman in a group could donate her underwear and hoist it up like a flag so everyone else could sleep better. haha
Haunted houses
There have only been a couple of mentions on this site so far: Nam Koo Terrace in Wanchai, and the old mental hospital on High Street. The High Street site now houses the Sai Ying Pun Community Complex, but I don't know if the new residents have seen any of the old floating past!
David
KCR Ghost Ad
Back in 1992, an ad for the KCR appeared on TV (now available on Youtube) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srGu3fyLrGo . It sparked a lot of speculation and dicussion about a Ghost that appeared in the ad.
An anthropology professor at HKU researched about it, the article's citation is below:
Evans, Grant. 1997. Ghosts and the new governor: the anthropology of a Hong Kong rumour. In: Grant Evans and Maria Tam (Eds.), Hong Kong: The Anthropology of a Chinese Metropolis, Chapter 12. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
UrBex?
Anybody know the deal about trespassing laws in HK? When I was a kid/teenager there it seemed anything was pretty much fair game - had a whale of a time exploring old houses and hospitals that got round via word of mouth. Only got chucked out of one place (on the peak) and just got a finger-wagging. When I get back I would love to UrBex and photograph a lot of the old buildings around. Are the trespass laws in HK anything like as ridiculous as they are in the US?
Haunting of Windsor House
Hi there, I do remember the haunting you referred to, though I was only a kid at the time so didn't know the full details.
I think it started around 1982-3, when Windsor House was pretty new. The main entrance was faced with white/grey patterned marble. Someone claimed that they could see the face of a fox in one of the marble tiles on a side wall. That marble was high up but clearly visible from the escalator on the way upstairs. So there were lots of stories about a fox-spirit haunting that marble.
I can't remember if the offending piece of marble was removed or not. But I remember looking out for the fox's face every time I used that escalator and never seeing anything suspicious.
However if I remember correctly, the entrance has been remodelled since and no longer uses that marble now.
As for other urban legends, there are heaps as you can imagine, since Hongkongers are pretty superstitious. One of my favourites is about how used women's underwear is a great charm that protects you from seeing spirits and other 'dirty things'. eg if you are driving on a lonely stretch of road and you think there are ghosts making mischief, such as creating illusions that can cause a car accident and kill you, then you should hang the used women's underwear from your rearvision mirror, and that will dispel the illusions. Basically the idea is that the 'yin' energy of women will protect you from the yin of the ghosts. Have you heard that before!? I don't know if it is specifically HK or not though.
cheers
Ladies' knickers
I laughed when I read your post, and thought that maybe you were trying to start a new urban legend.
But... when I mentioned it to my wife she assured me it was a well-known safety measure, so thanks for sharing.
Cheers, David
Windsor House
Windsor House was never haunted. Unfortunately the contractor installed the external stone in the book matched method ie the two pieces of stone were mirror images. Unfortunately, when the two pieces of stone were brought together, the veining pattern resembled a wolf's face so that was the start of the superstitious rumours of wolf spirits.
woman's underwear - i remember that!
haklh - thanks for bring back a memory from my childhood! i had totally forgotten that
my relatives talked about using the underwear trick if you got stranded in a haunted house, that a woman in a group could donate her underwear and hoist it up like a flag so everyone else could sleep better. haha