We told you not to look down! Source: Supplied
KIDS, don’t try this at home!
For three twenty-something Hongkongers, taking a selfie on top of a skyscraper hundreds of metres above the ground, while dangling over the edge is all in a day’s work.
For tens of thousands of their followers on Instagram, it is a source of awe, fear and anxiety.
High school friends Daniel Lau, Dex Ng and Lawrence Tsui are leading the charge in Hong Kong’s urban exploration scene. But it is their “rooftopping’’ exploits that have earned them worldwide fame.
Legend or idiot? The selfie that brought Daniel Lau worldwide fame. Source: Supplied
And it’s not a matter of simply getting to the rooftop of a building. Sometimes the trio have to scale walls, balancing precariously while climbing to the highest possible point of a building. And they are well aware one little slip could mean the end of their lives.
“When it is not my day, I will stop. Just be safe. Know your limits,’’ Lau said.
“We do want to outdo ourselves and challenge our limits but of course, if it’s not our day we will stop.’’
His poor mother! Source: Supplied
I ask if they are ever scared of falling.
None of the three even blink an eye or react to my question, as though they had heard the same thing over and over.
“Most of the people who have told me (to stop), are actually scared of heights. You can’t feel what I feel. You can’t manage what I manage. As a grown man I know what I’m doing. I know my limits,’’ Lau said.
“My mum checks my Instagram every day.’’
Hong Kong’s skyline is the perfect playground for these daredevils. Source: Supplied
Ng’s family even tried to stop him from rooftopping.
“My family tried to stop me at first. My sister told me not to do it and said there are many different ways to take photos, but you shouldn’t do it this way,’’ he said.
Hong Kong has more than seven million people living in a tiny 1000 square kilometre area. The result? The highest number of skyscrapers of any city on earth, with more than 1200.
“Rooftopping is a getaway from my daily routine where there is a lot of pressure and deadlines ... once you get up to the rooftop and see all that beneath you. It is a fresh feeling. It is not too far away from the city and not far away from your life but to me, it is a getaway,’’ Tsui said.
It’s enough to give anyone vertigo. Source: Supplied
Lau agrees and said the experience on top of a skyscraper is calming and peaceful.
“Everyday is ordinary life — everything is so structured and you have to follow orders. We want to get away from that. When you are on the roof, it is so quiet and peaceful compared to when you are on the streets where people are rushing,’’ he said.
The trio have formed under the one banner “Exthetics’’ – a combination of “extremity’’ and “aesthetics”.
“We want to combine those extreme actions and also some beautiful photography,” Lau said.
“The point of exploration is you don’t know what will happen in the next minute — try to feel yourself and explore. That is the point of exploration.”
Taking social media to new heights. Source: Supplied
The trio recently went to Shenzhen, China where they climbed the unfinished Ping An Finance Centre building. Standing at 530m, it is currently the tallest building in China and second-tallest in the world.
“It is about 100m taller than Hong Kong’s IFC (International Finance Centre),’’ Dex proudly tells me.
“Yeah it’s even taller than ICC (International Commerce Centre),’’ Lau said.
TITLE: The world's most dangerous selfie.
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CAPTION: The world's most dangerous selfie
So what’s next?
“Of the top 100 tallest buildings, more than 50 are in Hong Kong. So it attracts a lot of explorers from all over the world. They come every month and it is reaching the climax in Hong Kong. We don’t plan to just do it in Hong Kong. China, maybe South-East Asia, or some place else,’’ Lau said.
Don’t try this at home. Source: Supplied