Coloane

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Coloane (Traditional Chinese: 路環島; Simplified Chinese: 路环岛; pinyin: Lùhuán Dǎo; Jyutping: Lou6-waan4 Dou2, literally "Road Ring Island") is one of the two main islands of Macau in the People's Republic of China. It is located directly south of the other main island, Taipa (氹仔), and east of the Greater Hengqing Island (大横琴岛) of Zhuhai, Guangdong province.

Coloane was known as Jiuaoshan (TC: 九澳山, Cantonese: Gau-Ou Saan, "Nine-inlet Mountain"), Yanzaowan (TC: 鹽灶灣, Cantonese: Yim-Zou Waan, "Salt-stove Bay"), and Guoluhuan (TC: 過路環, Cantonese: Gwo-Lou Waan, "Passing-road Ring"). The Portuguese name of "Coloane" is said to derive from the Cantonese pronunciation of "過路環".

Contents 1 Geography 2 History 3 Tourism 4 See also

[edit] Geography

Coloane has an area of 8.07 km² (4-km long) and is 5.6km from the Macau Peninsula. It is connected to Taipa by a 2.2-km land-fill bridge, the Estrada do Istmo, however land reclamation has physically connected the two islands and a new town called Cotai (路氹) is being built between Taipa and Coloane.

The narrowest part of Coloane is 300 metres. The highest points in Macau are eastern and central Coloane, with the highest point being the 171-metre Alto de Coloane (疊石塘山). The northern shore of the island is 4.5 m deep, and is the site of the Macau Deepwater Port. The eastern Hac Sa Beach (Baía de Hác Sá, 黑沙海灘, literally "Black Sand Bay") and the southern Baía de Cheoc Van (竹灣, literally "Bamboo Bay") are popular swimming beaches. At Baía de Hác Sá there is a Portuguese restaurant called "Fernandos", famous amongst locals in Macau and tourists from Hong Kong.

[edit] History

From the Song Dynasty onwards and until the Portuguese arrival in 1864, Coloane was a sea salt farm for China. After their arrival, the Portuguese made Macau an important trading port, but Coloane remained deserted, which was used as a base by pirates until 1910. The island has become more populated after the Estrada do Istmo was finished in 1969.

[edit] Tourism

Famous sites on the island include:

• Tam Kung Temple (譚公廟), dedicated to Lord Tam, a Taoist god of seafares
• Old Tin Hau Temple (天后古廟)
• A-Ma Statue (媽祖像), built on October 28, 1998 (lunar calendar: September 9)
• Church of Our Lady of Sorrows (九澳七苦聖母小堂)
• Chapel of St. Francis Xavier (聖方濟各聖堂), of the São Francisco Xavier Parish (聖方濟各堂區). The chapel, built in 1928, is located on the southern coast of the island and stands near a monument commemorating a victory over pirates in 1910. The chapel contains some of the most sacred Christian relics in Asia, including the remains of 26 foreign and Japanese Catholic priests who were crucified in Nagasaki in 1597, as well as those of some of the Japanese Christians who were killed during the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637. The chapel also housed a bone from the arm of St. Francis Xavier, who died in 1552 on Sanchuan Island, 50 miles from Macau, before it was transferred to Saint Joseph's Seminary and the Sacred Art Museum [1].

• Museum of Nature and Agriculture (土地暨自然博物館)
• Avenida de Cinco de Outubro (十月初五馬路)
• Hac Sa Bay Park and Coloane Park

Chapel of Saint Francis Xavier

Tam Kung Temple

Old Tin Hau Temple

[edit] See also

• Category:Freguesias of Macau