An Interview with @LKFMeltdown: Recording Hong Kong’s Sleepy Drunks

We’ve all been there. Friday night. You put on your finest flashy shirt or skirt, head to a bar in Soho with friends, start drinking to forget the workweek that just was, wiggle your way down to Lan Kwai Fong to start the night at a club, and, one thing leads to another, you find yourself in solitude collapsed on the streets of LKF.

You may regain consciousness at 4 AM and crawl into a taxi to head home or wake up when the street cleaners start their rounds on a Sunday morning. One thing, however, is a given, you had a meltdown and could find yourself on Hong Kong’s rowdiest Instagram account, @lkfmeltdown, recording the sleepy, puking, and funny meltdowns of Hong Kong’s LKF-goers.

LKF Meltdown began in November 2020 as an account started by “a group of partygoers who appreciated and value the charm a meltdown brings to [Lan Kwai Fong].” Their mission: to patrol the streets of LKF and its various off-shooting streets, one meltdown at a time.

“Meltdowns are a staple in Hong Kong culture,” a founding member of the Instagram group told The Beat Asia in an anonymous interview, “and we’re celebrating them.”

Defining a meltdown is simple and only has two defining characteristics. “An LKF meltdown is when you have way too much fun and wake up in a bush, a stairwell, a toilet, covered in your dinner, with vague memories of the previous evening’s festivities, in the club district of Hong Kong: Lan Kwai Fong.”

Of the 105 unfortunate drunk Hong Kongers having their picture posted permanently on the @lkfmeltdown wall, and the hundreds posted on their weekly stories, a classic LKF meltdown can come in all shapes, sizes, and forms.

Arms and head drooped over a beer knocked out outside a club, puke-covered sprawled over a staircase, four friends carrying you by each limb to a cab, taking shade and napping outside a 7/11, crawled up like a baby with ripped clothes, or emptying your guts outside an Ebeneezer's.

Only 14 months old, LKF Meltdown saw a boom in popularity over the summer of 2021 when local infections of COVID-19 vanished and loosening restrictions saw people flock to LKF to celebrate being vaccinated and freedom - and then overdoing it and ending up on the infamous account.

The creators of the account said that LKF Meltdown began as a platform to celebrate the city and its drinking culture. “This is an idea [that] we had a while ago that just came to fruition during the pandemic.”

“We had collected a bunch of content prior and finally had the time to sit down and develop the account and see its possibilities. It certainly helped that everyone was stuck here and drinking more!”

A team member of LKF Meltdowns said the main motive for creating the account was to “celebrate Hong Kong and the ridiculous predicaments people find themselves in. Everyone has seen or had their fair shares of meltdowns; this is a collection of them. It is honestly all just for fun.”

In truth, there is something funny about a meltdown and the team behind the account sees it too. Ever since Lan Kwai Fong cemented itself as the party central for tourists and locals in the early 1990s, the square centre and its connecting streets have seen drinkers who cannot handle their alcohol and prefer a chunder and nap in the most random of places.

“We think the part that is funny is just [how] often [meltdowns] happen. Everyone melts down or has at some point in their lives, but in Hong Kong, they are doing it on the streets, on the stairs, on piles of garbage - we cannot make this stuff up!”

The team certainly recognizes the importance of the significance and humour behind meltdowns. “It is part of the charm of Hong Kong. Without these meltdowns, Hong Kong would not be the same.”

“It is the predicaments that people find themselves in [that is funny]. Seeing the exact point where autopilot fails and finding yourself waking up outside Taz wondering if you even went there the night before. Some have snacks. Others have Ikea shopping bags. Like, how does this all happen?”

The team of LKF Meltdown recognises the dangers and respect due when dealing with Hong Kongers who have had a rough night and end up in a meltdown.

“We have received a ton of threats from people claiming we do not have their permissions [to post] – we actually don’t need them – and others devoting their time to luring us out for a drink for a chance to ‘fuck us up.’”

“We have heard it all and what people need to remember is that melting down is a choice. You do not need to completely blackout to have a good time. You can get ridiculous without puking your guts out onto the streets.”

In early December 2021, the team decided to privatize the account to ensure that the reporting of meltdowning Hong Kongers stays consistent, away from the prying eyes of angry individuals and groups.

All pictures uploaded or posted on their story has the faces of the “meltdownee” blurred to protect their identity. Their house rules state that faces are censored, nudity and sexual acts are banned, content credits can be requested for submitted videos, and “don’t ask who we are.”

The team behind LKF Meltdowns consider themselves “LKF vets that still love a good party,” also acknowledging their history of meltdowns and hectic LKF nights. “We are a group of meltdowners […] I can vouch that we all have [meltdowned before]. Multiple times. And they’ve all involved copious amounts of vomit.”

With a steady stream of meltdowns occurring every weekend and the entrepreneurial spirit strong in Hong Kong, the future is bright for LKF Meltdown.

“We are open to many ideas, starting with collabs with some of the best brands in Hong Kong and possibly selling merch. If anyone has ideas, we are willing to listen.”

“Most of all, we just want to serve as the authority of meltdowning in LKF, with some event promos thrown in to inform our followers of what’s happening in and around town.”