Shock as Man Accidentally Books To Stay in One of Hong Kong's 'Coffin Homes'

They say travel broadens the mind, but it is not always glamorous. One traveler recently shared his experiences of staying in a "coffin home" while in Hong Kong.

In a TikTok video with over 6.1 million views, Wei Shen whose Instagram account describes him as an actor and model, documented his time in Hong Kong staying in one of the tiny apartments, also known as "cage homes."

In the video, Wei explains that he "accidentally" ended up staying in one of the tiny apartments. "I've never been in a room this small, it felt like a prison a bit. And from memory it wasn't even that cheap, AU$40 ($27)."

The room is barely big enough for a bed, with a small bathroom. "I couldn't fit on the bed," he continues, "and there was constant noise coming from outside and one of your millions of neighbors. That night I had about one hour of sleep and also woke up with a fever[...]and this is what peeking over the window looks like."

The camera then pans down outside of the building showing the surrounding three other walls, with dozens of pipes and air conditioning units.

"I would just die from panic attack. I can't breathe even by watching it," commented one user.

Hong Kong has a population of over 7 million people, which is less than New York or London, but it is the eighth most densely populated city in the world, with 68,400 people per square mile, according to the World Population Review.

Known for its overcrowded tiny homes and housing crisis, government data from 2021 showed that around 215,700 people, or approximately 3 percent of the population, lived in 108,200 subdivided unit houses, also known as "cage homes."

"The average price per square foot has almost doubled in the past 20 years, according to Midland Realty, a Hong Kong property firm.

The property that Wei shows in the video, which contains some expletives, is relatively luxurious compared to some of the permanent residents of other "coffin homes," who often have to share a bathroom with multiple other residents, and sometimes don't have a bed, and resemble a horizontal cupboard rather than a room.

Some of the housing has even less privacy, as people find themselves living in hostel-like residences, sleeping in bunk beds in rooms with other people.

The housing crisis is a physical indication of the wealth gap in the city, and it has caused a significant amount of tension in the city between the poorer parts of society and the government and elite. The 2019—2020 protests in Hong Kong were originally catalyzed by the Hong Kong government's introduction of a bill to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance in regard to extradition.

However, the widening gap between rich and poor was a contributing factor to these protests, which became the largest series of demonstrations in the history of Hong Kong, and began on March 15, 2019.

The pandemic exacerbated Hong Kong's disparity in wealth distribution and a report by Oxfam from 2022 entitled Hong Kong Poverty Report: Poverty and Employment During The Pandemic found that Hong Kong's richest citizens made 47 times more than the poorest, up from 34 times in 2019.

Oxfam reported that the median monthly income of the poorest households has dropped by 23 percent to HK$2,700 ($345) in the past three years, while the most well-off households' income rose by 6.3 percent.

Users on TikTok were shocked by the housing.

Wow. And here I was thinking how I wish I had a bit more space in my three-bed house. Have just had a dose of perspective & now feel very grateful!" commented one user.

"I feel like I would get psychosis from this idk," said another.

"Bruh at least you have a toilet in there... I've seen one where there was one toilet for the entire floor," shared another user.

Newsweek reached out to Wei Shen via Instagram for comment on Monday.

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