The Temperament of Kowloon City
I visited Kowloon in the cold winter of January. It was just entering summer when I visited again, which had a different charm. After landing in Chengdu this time, I still had an afternoon. I originally planned to visit the Sichuan Museum, but was delayed by a few phone calls, so I went to Chengdu Taikoo Li for a walk. I live in Hangzhou and often think that Hangzhou in the east is much better than Chengdu in the west in terms of economy and living atmosphere. This time I took the Chengdu Metro, walked through small alleys, visited Taikoo Li, and got in close contact with Chengdu, only to feel that Chengdu is better than Hangzhou in many aspects. In recent years, Chengdu has made steady progress. Both infrastructure and industrial structure are benchmarked against Beijing and Shanghai. On the other hand, apart from doing well in publicity, Hangzhou’s basic skills are a bit lacking.
It takes 12 hours to take a minibus from Chengdu Xinnanmen Bus Station to Kowloon County in the hinterland of Garze. Probably to save costs, the minibus was not equipped with a co-driver, only one driver, who was replaced by a relay halfway, which posed a great safety hazard. In June, there was a little more green along the way. Under the white clouds, the mountains were covered with green grass dotted with small flowers, and leisurely yaks wandered everywhere. After crossing Zheduo Mountain, the weather became changeable. Sometimes there were thunderstorms and sometimes the sun was shining brightly. The sound of angry mountain torrents echoed in the valley. Fortunately, the driver who was used to this battle drove the car into Kowloon smoothly.
The small town is still the same as when I came last time. This appearance may not have changed much for decades. People still wander aimlessly in the National Square. Only in the market at the corner of the square, the seller of roasted potatoes has been replaced by a seller of Cordyceps. The price of Cordyceps ranges from ten yuan to one hundred yuan. No matter how the seller brags about the efficacy of Cordyceps, I will definitely not buy it. I still know the tricks of Hepialus and Claviceps.
In the small town, maybe the Cordyceps business is one of the few businesses that can generate value, while the fly restaurants, clothing stores, and daily necessities stores all over the street are part of maintaining the operation of local life. Residents buy yours and I buy yours, which is similar to barter and does not generate much surplus value. It’s just the value transfer for everyone to make a living. Most of Kowloon’s daily necessities are transported by truck from the southern foot of Zheduo Mountain. As gasoline prices rise, the prices of daily necessities and vegetable markets also rise. Business in stores along the street is becoming increasingly deserted, and everyone is not consuming much.
Another reason why I don’t buy Cordyceps is that I want to save money to buy half a catty of yak meat to go with wine. Kowloon yak is large and strong, and is the first of the three major specialties promoted by Kowloon. However, it is not easy to eat a mouthful of fresh yak meat locally. First, you have to wait until the slaughter season in November and December. Second, you need to have a certain consumption capacity. Pure yak meat costs about 100 yuan per catty. The number of Kowloon yaks is not large, and locals do not eat them often. It was cold this spring, and more than 200 heads froze to death in the county. It is even harder to eat yak meat this year. However, the county is preparing to subsidize the establishment of multiple winter supplementary feeding stations to increase the risk resistance of yaks. Maybe I can eat a few more mouthfuls of yak meat next year.
Tea is the second specialty of Kowloon. The contiguous tea gardens in Kowloon are located in Kuiduo Town, which takes 2 hours to drive from the county seat along the Kowloon River to the Yalong River. Kowloon Tianxiang Tea belongs to inland high-mountain tea, distributed on the north bank of the Yalong River at an altitude of 1,700 to 2,700 meters. It has a unique geographical location and suitable climate. The local tea planting history is long, and the oldest tea tree has a history of more than 300 years. The quality of the tea is also good, but in recent years, compared with other tea sources, tea brand building has lagged far behind. The best Tianxiang tea can only be sold for 500 yuan per catty, and the enthusiasm of tea farmers has been seriously frustrated.
The last specialty of Kowloon is Sichuan pepper. This specialty gives people an illusion that the quality of Kowloon Sichuan pepper is outstanding, so it is called a specialty. In fact, Kowloon is mountainous and the land is barren, making it unsuitable for growing other crops. Only Sichuan pepper can be grown. The local area has no other specialties to offer, so it can only use Sichuan pepper to make up the number. Over time, Sichuan pepper has become a specialty for locals to promote themselves.
In fact, another major local specialty is copper ore. It is said that there are more than 1,000 miners in a copper mine in Kuiduo Town alone, while the entire Kuiduo Town has only 4,000 people. However, Kowloon, located in the protection zone of the source of the Yangtze River, has to make a choice between economic development and ecological protection. Careful mining of minerals and ecological agriculture with great fanfare are carried out simultaneously.
Perhaps, the unique geographical location, national responsibility and the situation of the three ethnic groups have created the introverted temperament of Kowloon.
Published at: Jun 27, 2022 · Modified at: Dec 12, 2025
