Ping Chau

Not to be confused with Peng Chau.
Aerial view from Northeastern tip
Location of Ping Chau in the Northeast corner of the territory.
View of the village of Sha Tau, on Ping Chau.
Ping Chau
A wave-cut platform on Ping Chau.
Lung Lok Shui (龍落水)
Tam Kung Temple in Sha Tau

Ping Chau (Chinese: 平洲) is an island in Hong Kong. It is also known as Tung Ping Chau (Chinese: 東平洲). Tung (Chinese: 東, meaning east) is prepended to the name so as to avoid possible confusion with Peng Chau, another island in Hong Kong with an identically pronounced name in the Cantonese language. Administratively, the island is part of the Tai Po District in the New Territories.

Geography

Geographically, Ping Chau is an offshore island located in the northeast corner of Hong Kong in Mirs Bay,[1] close to the border with Guangdong Province in mainland China. The island has an area of 1.16 km²[2] and consists of shale rock. The island is the most easterly point of the Hong Kong territory and is much closer to mainland China (4 km) than to the main landmass of Hong Kong. It is close to Nan'ao of Dapeng.

The island has the shape of a kidney bean with its concave side facing northeast. Its name "Ping Chau" means "flat island" in Chinese, suggesting that the island is flat.[3] The highest points on the island are 48 metres in the south and 37 metres in the north. The eastern inner shore of the crescent hugs the Ping Chau Hoi (平洲海) with a few beaches, including Cheung Sha Wan (長沙灣) in the northeast. On the contrary, the opposite western coast of the island is fairly rocky. This is the results of inclined siltstones, and wave action being higher along the east coast while the west is relatively sheltered.

The island's largest village, Sha Tau (沙頭), is something of a ghost town, with many cottages boarded up. A large part of the island is country parkland,[4] with footpaths overgrown with orchids, wild mint, and morning glories.[5]

History

Ping Chau has a checkered history. Guns and opium were once smuggled from here, and during the Cultural Revolution many mainlanders swam in hopes of reaching Ping Chau and the freedom of Hong Kong.[6][5]

The now virtually deserted island was once home to a thriving fishing and farm community of 3,000 people,[7] with over 100 fishing junks.[8] Historical villages of Ping Chau included the five oldest: Chau Mei (洲尾), Chau Tau (洲頭), Nai Tau (奶頭), Sha Tau (沙頭) and Tai Tong (大塘), as well as five other smaller family villages, which were subsequently developed: Chan Uk (陳屋), Lam Uk (林屋), Lei Uk (李屋), Tsau Uk (鄒屋) and Tsoi Uk (蔡屋).[9] The village of Chau Mei was settled by fishermen who sold their catch at Tai Po Market and at Sha Yu Chong (沙魚涌), a coastal village now part of the Longgang District of Shenzhen.[8]

During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong (1941-1945), Ping Chau was used as a logistics base for the supply of military resources, including petrol, to the Chinese army. Several allied military leaders were transported to the mainland via the island.[8]

In the 1950s, there were about 1,500 people living in the ten villages on the island.[7] Two primary schools were built: Kwan Ying School (群英學校) in Tai Tong and Wai Sun School (維新學校) in Chau Tau.[10] At that time, the economy of the island deteriorated due to the dry up of fishery resources and the termination of trade with the mainland as a consequence of the Korean War (1950-1953).[8] During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), political turmoil cut off commerce with the mainland and most villagers moved away.[7] By the early 1970s, only a few elderly people remained on the island.[11] In 2004, the last permanent resident moved out of Tung Ping Chau. Some may return on weekends.[7] In 2013, the District Offices estimated that Tung Ping Chau had a population of 8.[12]

Geology

Ping Chau is unique in the fact that it is the only sizeable island in Hong Kong made up of sedimentary rock. Hong Kong is mostly formed of extrusive igneous rocks, after a series of major volcanoes erupted during the Jurassic Period. Following the volcanic activity, a basin formed in the northeast, with deposition in a brackish lake—producing the siltstones and chert of Tung Ping Chau, which have been dated from the early Paleogene period. It is also home to some spectacular cliffs and wave-cut platforms. Landforms such as these are very rarely found in the rest of Hong Kong.

Cham Keng Chau (斬頸洲), in the northwest, is a chunk of land that has broken away from the island;[13] the Chinese say it represents the head of a dragon.[5] Another notable rock formation is Lung Lok Shui (龍落水), on the southwestern coast, thus named because it resembles the spine of a dragon entering the sea.[3] At the island's southeastern end are two large rocks known as the Drum Rocks, or Watchman's Tower Rocks (更樓石, Kang Lau Shek).[5] They are 7-8 m seastacks on a wave-cut platform.[3] Lan Kwo Shui (難過水) features a long vertical cliff located along the southern coast, where several caves were formed there as a result of long term wave actions. Lan Kwo Shui can be reached by foot from Kan Lau Shek, at low tide and in calm sea conditions.[1]

Tourism

The island has a temple dedicated Tin Hau, built in 1765,[10] and a temple dedicated to Tam Kung: the Tam Tai Sin Temple (譚大仙廟), built before 1877.[9] Both temples are located in the village of Sha Tau. Many early residents of Ping Chau were from Shantou (Swatow) and they kept the tradition of worshiping Tam Kung after they settled on the island.[14] Several other old buildings can be found on the island.

On one side of the island there are steep cliffs, below which is an amazing wave-cut platform, with jagged rocks, set at a 30-degree angle, like a staircase. Here there are many rock pools containing all manner of marine life, such as sea urchins and crabs. On the island's coastline at the pier side, there are over 60 different species of coral, and 35 species of algae. In fact, some say that Ping Chau has the only diveable sites in Hong Kong.

During the weekends, there are many people on the island. These include those who have come to dive, and those who have come to see the cliffs and wave-cut platforms. Some people also use it as a weekend home. 57,000 people visited Ping Chau in 2005.[7]

There is a camping site as well as picnic and barbecue sites on the island, managed by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.[15] A few basic restaurants can be found at Tai Tong, a short distance north of Tung Ping Chau Public Pier. Basic dorms are available at Tai Tong Wan (大塘灣) and A Ma Wan (亞媽灣).[16]

Conservation

Tung Ping Chau Public Pier viewed from Tai Tong Wan.

Three buildings of Ping Chau are listed as Grade III Historic Buildings: the Tin Hau Temple, the Tam Tai Sin Temple, both in the village of Sha Tau, and the Old House, built in the 1940s in Chau Mei by Lee Mou-you (李戊有).[17]

Ping Chau has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest since 1979.[18]

With the exception of an area of old villages along its east coast,[7][4] Ping Chau is part of the Plover Cove (Extension) Country Park, designated in 1979.[3]

The Tung Ping Chau Marine Park was designated in 2001 as the fourth Marine Park in Hong Kong. It occupies a sea area of about 270 hectares which encloses the island of Ping Chau.[1]

Ping Chau is one of the eight Geo-Areas of the Hong Kong Global Geopark,[19] which was inaugurated in November 2009.[20]

Transportation

The island is reachable by ferry from Ma Liu Shui ferry pier, near the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The landing point is the Tung Ping Chau Public Pier (東平洲公眾碼頭), the only public pier on Ping Chau, located near the centre of the island at Wong Ye Kok (王爺角). Improvement works on the pier were completed in 2007.[21] The ferry service is operated by Tsui Wah Ferry Services Co. Ltd on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays only.[22][23] The journey takes 1 hour 40 minutes.[24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 AFCD: Tung Ping Chau Marine Park
  2. ↑ Survey and Mapping Office, Lands Department: Hong Kong geographic data sheet
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 AFCD: Plover Cove (Extension) Country Park
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 AFCD: Map of Ping Chau showing the area covered by the Plover Cove (Extension) Country Park
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Fodor's: "Hong Kong Island Hopping".
  6. ↑ Film Services Office: Tung Ping Chau (Plover Cove (Extension) Country Park)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 "Out of sight". South China Morning Post. 27 October 2006.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Brief Information on proposed Grade III Items. Item #935.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Brief Information on proposed Grade III Items. Item #800.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Brief Information on proposed Grade III Items. Item #1022.
  11. ↑ "Bygone Day Tung Ping Chau"
  12. ↑ Legislative Council: "Remote villages without treated water supply and their estimated population in 2013"
  13. ↑ "Corridor of Cham Keng Chau"
  14. ↑ Island Time, HK Magazine
  15. ↑ AFCD: Tung Ping Chau Campsite
  16. ↑ Griffiths, Nigel (21 August 2014). "Tung Ping Chau". Sai Kung & Clearwater Bay Magazine. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  17. ↑ List of the 1,444 Historic Buildings in Building Assessment (as of 27 December 2013)
  18. ↑ EPD: Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Hong Kong
  19. ↑ Hong Kong National Geopark
  20. ↑ Chief Executive opens Hong Kong National Geopark
  21. ↑ Film Services Office: Tung Ping Chau Public Pier
  22. ↑ Transport Department: Kaito Ferry Services
  23. ↑ Tsui Wah Ferry Service (H.K.) Ltd.
  24. ↑ Tung Ping Chau – The Rocky Island in Hong Kong

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ping Chau.

Coordinates: 22°32′36″N 114°25′50″E / 22.54333°N 114.43056°E