Cheung Chau

Cheung Chau

Cheung Chau is an island in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It is also known as dumbbell island because of its dumbbell like shape. It is located in the south-east of Lantau Island and belongs to Liandao sandbank. It looks at Xiling island in the north. Shigu island is located in the southwest of Cheung Chau, about 10 km from the southwest of Hong Kong Island. Cheung Chau is administratively divided into the outlying islands of Hong Kong's 18 districts. With a population of about 30000, Cheung Chau is the most densely populated island among the outlying islands. There is no land-based public transport in Cheung Chau, and its basic development is relatively perfect. In addition to basic facilities such as police stations, fire stations and hospitals, there are also infrastructure such as schools, public housing estates and complex buildings on the island.

Cheung Chau is one of the famous tourist attractions in Hong Kong. There are many scenic spots on the island, such as Cheung Pao Tsai cave, North emperor temple and Cheung Chau stone carvings. Along the coast of the ferry terminal, there are many seafood restaurants. In addition, every year, Cheung Chau holds a grand Taiping qingjiao Festival, which is the largest traditional program in Cheung Chau and attracts a large number of visitors. There are many youth hostels, holiday houses, European and American style holiday hotels and hotels on the island.

history

Due to the lack of historical records, the early history of Changzhou can not be examined. However, according to the archaeological relics and the stone carvings found in the southeast of Changzhou in 1970, it can be inferred that at least 3000 years ago, the ancestors had arrived in Changzhou. Like the prehistoric stone carvings found in other places in Hong Kong, the stone carvings in Changzhou may be related to the sacrificial weather and praying for peace of the Shang Dynasty ancestors.

As early as the Ming Dynasty, Changzhou had developed into a place for fishing boats. In the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, it developed into a market. Changzhou was originally under the jurisdiction of Bao'an county (formerly known as Xin'an County) in Guangdong Province. However, due to its remote location, it was difficult for the imperial court to manage Changzhou. Therefore, during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the Chief Secretary of Guangdong Province issued a license to reclaim the land of Tianpu in Changzhou to the local Huang family. The land in the middle of Changzhou was owned by the Huang family and managed on their behalf, but half of the tax had to be handed over to the imperial court.

Changzhou was greatly developed during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. At present, the main temples on the island, such as Beishe Tianhou Temple (1767, the 32nd year of Emperor Qianlong), dashikou Tianhou Temple (1772, the 37th year of Emperor Qianlong), Xiwan Tianhou Palace (1774, the 39th year of Emperor Qianlong) and yuxu Palace (1783, the 48th year of Emperor Qianlong), were built at that time. We can see the important role of fishing at that time Sex.

In 1841, during the first Opium War, the Qing government set up the Changzhou flood on the island. The garrison of Dongyong, Youying, Dapeng Association Navy, dispatched one commander in chief and one foreign minister to the right sentry, and led 45 garrison troops to the area. During the reign of Tongzhi, business flourished in Changzhou. In 1870, Yuehai set up a gateway on the island to collect tax. In 1898, the Qing government and the United Kingdom signed a special section on the boundary of Hong Kong, which leased more than 200 outlying islands including Cheung Chau and the new territories to the United Kingdom. In 1999, Cheung Chau became a part of British Hong Kong.

After the British took over, the land ownership originally belonging to Huang's family continued to be recognized by the Hong Kong government, but the rest of the land on the island was classified as royal official land. In 1907, the Hong Kong government set up the Limin government to administer the new territories and outlying islands. In order to facilitate the implementation of local affairs, lead the villagers, and establish communication channels with the Limin government, the islanders of Cheung Chau set up elections to elect four prime ministers every two years as resident representatives. In 1919, the Hong Kong government set up 15 boundary stones in the central part of Cheung Chau to delimit the noble residential areas for foreigners. However, these boundary stones lost their legal effect after the Second World War. In the 1980s, the Antiquities and monuments office and others sent people to search for the boundary stones of Cheung Chau. So far, only 10 of them have been found.

During the period of Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945, Cheung Chau fell into Japanese hands with the whole territory of Hong Kong. The Japanese Imperial Army once set up its headquarters at the site of Changzhou government secondary school. In order to maintain peace, the Japanese army replaced the old election with the Cheung Chau Maintenance Association as the local management group of Cheung Chau. After Hong Kong regained its glory in 1945, the Cheung Chau maintenance association was immediately dissolved by the Hong Kong government, and the local affairs were carried out by the Residents Association and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. However, due to the rapid development of Cheung Chau after the war, the original Limin government affiliated institutions can no longer cope with the increasingly heavy work. In view of this, as early as 1955, Limin government ordered the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to participate in the development of local administration. In 1961, Limin government transferred its power to the newly established independent legal organization Changzhou Rural Affairs Committee, thus withdrawing from the local administration of Changzhou. Nevertheless, in 1969, the Hong Kong government set up the Islands District Office as a communication channel between the government and the people. Today, if Cheung Chau islanders need to contact officials, they can go to the Islands District Office in central, Hong Kong Island.

After the Hong Kong government introduced the Hong Kong District Council in 1982, Cheung Chau was divided into 18 outlying islands. Some of the original powers of the Cheung Chau Rural Committee have also been transferred to the district boards. At present, there are two District Council districts in Cheung Chau, namely Cheung Chau north and Cheung Chau south, each of which elects an outlying Island District Council member. Another ex officio seat is the chairman of the Cheung Chau Rural Committee.

In addition to the traditional fishing industry and shipbuilding industry, Cheung Chau has become a famous tourist hot spot in Hong Kong, and the tourism industry on the island has developed considerably. At the beginning of the handover of Hong Kong's sovereignty, the tourism industry in Cheung Chau was once hit by a number of suicides of holiday home residents and the SARS epidemic in 2003, but it has recovered afterwards. Cheung Chau is also the hometown of Li Lishan, a famous windsurfer. Li Lishan was born and raised in Cheung Chau. She won the first Olympic gold medal in the history of Hong Kong at the 1996 Atlantis Olympic Games, which made her famous. When Li Lishan returned to Cheung Chau that year, the islanders celebrated and held a grand victory celebration, which became a good story.

The fresh water from Silver Mine Bay water treatment works on Lantau Island to Cheung Chau is transported by a 500mm diameter submarine water pipe, which is the only source of water supply for Cheung Chau. In case of failure, the fresh water supply to Cheung Chau will be interrupted. In this regard, the water supplies department considers it necessary to improve as soon as possible. By 2013, the Hong Kong government plans to invest more than HK $254 million in submarine fresh water pipe laying. In March of the same year, the water supplies department plans to apply to the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council for funding to upgrade the Cheung Chau fresh water supply project from grade B to Grade A. the scope of the project includes the laying of a 1.4 km long submarine fresh water pipeline with a diameter of 500 mm by directional drilling across the North Cheung Chau Strait from Lantau to Cheung Chau, and the laying of a 200 m long submarine fresh water pipeline with a diameter of 450 mm in Lantau and Cheung Chau Meters of fresh water pipe. The project is planned to start in September of the same year and is expected to be completed in September 2015.

Zhang baozai was a famous pirate in the Jiaqing period of Qing Dynasty. He was active in the east of Guangdong Province and was later recruited by the imperial court. According to legend, a natural cave on the edge of Xiwan cliff in Changzhou is the hiding place where Zhang baozi fled the imperial court and was one of the secret places where he collected his treasures. This cave, which is called zhangbaozi cave by later generations, now has no trace of treasure. As the cave is narrow and can only be passed by one person, visitors have to enter from one side of the cave and then leave from the other side. To enter the cave, visitors should also walk down the iron ladder and bring a flashlight for lighting.

Although many people think that zhangbaozi cave is only for later generations, it has become a famous scenic spot in Changzhou. Many people will also mention zhangbaozi cave when they mention the history of Changzhou..

Geography

Cheung Chau is located between Lantau Island and Lamma Island, covering an area of about 2.46 square kilometers, about 10 kilometers from the southwest of Hong Kong Island. To the east of Cheung Chau is the West Lamma Strait, and to the West and north is the North Cheung Chau Strait, facing Lantau and Xiling island. To the south of Cheung Chau is the South China Sea, and farther away is the Dangan islands.

Geographically, Cheung Chau was originally two small islands, but affected by the shape of the island and the monsoon, the sea waves brought the sand to the end of the two islands, forming a sand mouth. After tens of millions of years of accumulated deposition, the two Sha Tsui continue to extend, and finally connect to form the island sandbank. Because of this, the shape of Changzhou is wide and large in the South and North, but narrow and long in the middle. It is dumbbell shaped, so Changzhou is also called dumbbell island.

The South and north parts of Cheung Chau are originally small islands, so the geology is composed of granite. The middle part is composed of marine sediments, which belongs to surface sediments. For this reason, and under the supervision of the village regulations, most of the buildings in Cheung Chau are only three stories high. There are hills in the South and north of Changzhou, with flat land in the middle and higher hills in the north, with the highest point of 95 meters high.

Sai Wan is a natural typhoon shelter because it has been calm for a long time, and Cheung Chau pier is also located in Sai Wan. As for the Dongwan beach, the famous Dongwan beach was formed because of the sediment brought by the waves for many years. Apart from Tung Wan beach, other major beaches in Cheung Chau are located in Sai Wan, Kwan Yin Wan, Dagui Wan and Tung Wan Chai. However, these beaches are smaller, less Sandy and more remote than Tung Wan. It's southwest of Cheung Chau

Address: Cheung Chau Island, Hong Kong

Longitude: 114.0297837

Latitude: 22.2085115

Chinese PinYin : Zhang Zhou