In this guide
💡 The Short Version: The Monster Building is a private estate of five blocks on King’s Road in Quarry Bay, known for the view up the courtyard between the Yick Cheong and Yick Fat buildings. People live here: keep your voice low, do not point a camera into windows, and do not climb on anything. The MTR Island line stops at Quarry Bay and Tai Koo; from Central the adult Octopus fare is HK$7.40.
What it is
The Monster Building is a group of five connected buildings on King’s Road, Quarry Bay. Its official name is Parker Estate, after Mount Parker behind it, and it was built in the 1960s. In 1972 the block was split into five: the Fook Cheong Building, Montane Mansion, Oceanic Mansion, the Yick Cheong Building and the Yick Fat Building. There are 2,243 flats, the tallest block (Oceanic Mansion) has 18 floors, and there are shops along the street front (Wikipedia).
It became a photographers’ stop after Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze’s picture of the estate was widely shared in 2013 and became the cover of his book Vertical Horizon. Residents have since put up signs asking visitors to be respectful. It has inspired locations in films including Transformers: Age of Extinction and Ghost in the Shell, and appears in music videos (same Wikipedia page).
Looking up between the blocks at Quarry Bay. Photo: Daniel Lu, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Visiting
- Admission and hours: none; it is a residential estate, not an attraction. About 10,000 people live there (Wikipedia), so the courtyards are somebody’s front garden.
- Etiquette: keep quiet, stay off ledges and fixtures, and never aim a lens at open windows. Shoot from the pavement and the street, not from inside the blocks.
- Where it is: King’s Road, Quarry Bay, the street the MTR station sits beneath.
Flats, balconies and air-conditioning units at Quarry Bay. Photo: BaoaonuwOOh, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Getting there
Quarry Bay station is on the MTR Island line and the Tseung Kwan O line, and Tai Koo, one stop east, is on the Island line (Wikipedia: Quarry Bay and Tai Koo stations). Fares to Quarry Bay, from the MTR fare data:
| From | Adult Octopus | Adult single |
|---|---|---|
| Central or Admiralty | HK$7.40 | HK$7.50 |
| Causeway Bay | HK$5.90 | HK$6.00 |
| Tsim Sha Tsui | HK$13.20 | HK$15.50 |
| Tai Koo | HK$4.90 | HK$5.00 |
The Octopus fare is the cheaper one; see the Octopus card guide for which card to buy and Hong Kong public transport for the rest of the network.
The trams also run along King’s Road. Hong Kong Tramways charges adults HK$3.30 a ride, and the line between Western Market and Shau Kei Wan has its first tram at 05:42 and last at 00:06 from Western Market.
King’s Road at Quarry Bay, with the tram lines down the middle. Photo: Keroro123, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
Which exit
Quarry Bay station has three exit groups: A on King’s Road towards Taikoo Place, B on Finnie Street and C on Model Lane. A and B share one concourse and C has its own (Wikipedia). The concourses are at street level, but the Tseung Kwan O line platforms are up to 37 m below ground, a five-minute walk from the concourse, so allow for that if you are changing lines on the way back (same page).
Tai Koo, one stop east, has five exit groups, A to E. D1 leads to Cityplaza and One Island East, A1 to Kornhill Gardens blocks 1 to 4, and E2 and E3 to blocks 5 to 10, all on the south side of King’s Road (Wikipedia, Kornhill). Kornhill itself has 44 blocks named by letter, two to a letter, so there is an A1 and an A2 but no block I, O or S to Z.
What else is in Quarry Bay
Quarry Bay is a residential and office district between North Point and Sai Wan Ho. Its Cantonese name, Tsak Yue Chung, refers to a stream where crucian carp lived, and the bay itself was once a place where stone was quarried and shipped out for building (Wikipedia: Quarry Bay). The east end, Taikoo, takes its name from the Chinese name of Swire, the company that owned the land: the dockyard became Taikoo Shing, the sugar refinery became Taikoo Place and the hillside became Kornhill in the mid-1980s. The district’s western end was once called Lai Chi, after a nightclub opened there in 1947 (same Wikipedia page).
- Quarry Bay Park. The LCSD lists the park as open 24 hours and free, covering about 12.49 hectares and opened on 17 June 1994 (opening date from Wikipedia). Its getting-here page gives Taikoo station Exit E1 (Quarry Bay Park) and Quarry Bay station Exit B1 (Quarry Bay Park Phase II) as the nearest MTR exits.
- Fireboat Alexander Grantham Exhibition Gallery. A retired fireboat, in service from 1953, now stands in the park as a free museum. It opens Monday and Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, and closes on Tuesdays (except public holidays) and the first two days of Chinese New Year. Guided tours, in Cantonese only, run on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays at 14:30 and 16:00. Hours and tours are on the Hong Kong Museum of History page.
- Taikoo Shing. A private estate of 61 residential towers on 21.5 hectares, built in stages on the site of the Taikoo Dockyard and finished by the early 1990s (Wikipedia). Cityplaza, one of the larger malls on the island, is directly connected to Tai Koo station (Wikipedia).
- Kornhill. Hillside estates above King’s Road with 44 blocks, built with the MTR Island line and open by 1987 (Wikipedia). Tai Koo station serves it. The hill takes its name from Ferdinand Korn, the first senior manager of the Taikoo Sugar Refinery.
- Taikoo Place. The office district on the site of the old sugar refinery. One Island East, at 18 Westlands Road, is 69 storeys and was completed in 2008 (Wikipedia). Quarry Bay station Exit A comes out on this side.
Taikoo Shing, Quarry Bay Park and Mount Parker from the air. Photo: Geographer, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Next
For another way across the island by tram and on foot, see Central to Sheung Wan on foot. For the wider list of sights, see things to do in Hong Kong and free things to do in Hong Kong.
Common questions
What is the Monster Building in Hong Kong?
A private housing estate on King's Road in Quarry Bay, officially Parker Estate and nicknamed Monster Mansion. It has five blocks: the Fook Cheong Building, Montane Mansion, Oceanic Mansion, the Yick Cheong Building and the Yick Fat Building. The tallest, Oceanic Mansion, has 18 floors, and the block was split into five in 1972 (Wikipedia).
Is the Monster Building a tourist attraction?
No. It is a private estate where people live, so there is no admission and no opening hours; visitors are expected to be quiet and respectful, and to keep cameras off residents' windows.
Who lives in the Monster Building?
Wikipedia gives 2,243 flats and about 10,000 residents, and says residents have put up signs asking visitors to be respectful.
Which films used the Monster Building?
Wikipedia notes that the estate has inspired locations in films including Transformers: Age of Extinction and Ghost in the Shell, and has appeared in music videos.
How do you get to the Monster Building?
Take the MTR Island line to Quarry Bay or Tai Koo. The adult Octopus fare to Quarry Bay is HK$7.40 from Central and HK$13.20 from Tsim Sha Tsui (MTR fare data). The estate is on King's Road, which the Hong Kong Tramways line also follows (adult fare HK$3.30).
