I had the chance to visit the Victoria Prison in Hong Kong, which was most commonly called “Victoria Gaol” by local people before 2006; now this place is called “Tai Kwun”, and this was the first prison in Hong Kong and its name honoured Queen Victoria.
Now this former prison become a cultural heritage in Hong Kong and is recognised by UNESCO.
When you visit this place, you will have the chance to see the prisoner cells and how tiny the place was; I can’t imagine how hot these cells were in the summertime.
I have learnt that “Ho Chi Minh”, the Vietnamese revolutionary and president of Vietnam from 1945 to 1969, was a prisoner in this prison on 6 June 1931 and released by the Hong Kong government on 22 January 1933. He wrote some memories about this prison and mentioned how small the cells were and how narrow this place's corridors were.
They also show the food they used to serve to the prisoners; I have taken two pictures of how the food was in 1952 and 2006, the year they closed this place.
Once you get tired of visiting the different buildings, you could rest in the prison yard, and it seems it has not changed so much because the trees are still there unless they are new ones already.
They have some brochures where they promote, from time to time, plays and film screenings from different local actors like Bruce Lee, Anita Mui, Chow Yun-fat, etc
Also, you can delight in the food in this place as there are many restaurants, specifically Western food, but don’t expect the price to be quite reasonable because you are in a former prison and the food must but quite expensive.
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