Tai O (8)
Tai O is a fishing town, partly located on an island of the same name, on the western side of Lantau Island in Hong Kong. The village name means ''large inlet'', referring to outlet for the waterways (Tai O Creek and Tai O River) merges as it moves through Tai O. Geography On the southwest part of Lantau Island, Tai O River splits to the north (as Tai O Creek) and west and at this fork lies the island referred to as Tai O. Two pedestrian bridges cross the river on its northern and western forks. The village is located mostly on the banks of the river. The western and northern parts of the island facing the South China Sea are uninhabited. History Nearby archaeological sites date back to the Stone Age, but permanent, and verifiable, human settlement here is only three centuries old. Stories that would be impossible to substantiate have Tai O as the base of many smuggling and piracy operations, the inlets of the river providing excellent protection from the weather and a hidi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, the most of any country in the world, tied with Russia. Covering an area of approximately , it is the world's third largest country by total land area. The country consists of 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macau). The national capital is Beijing, and the most populous city and financial center is Shanghai. Modern Chinese trace their origins to a cradle of civilization in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. The semi-legendary Xia dynasty in the 21st century BCE and the well-attested Shang and Zhou dynasties developed a bureaucratic political system to serve hereditary monarchies, or dyna ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Tamão
The Battle of Tunmen or Tamão was a naval battle in which the Ming imperial navy defeated a Portuguese fleet led by Diogo Calvo in 1521. Background Portuguese diplomat Fernão Pires de Andrade arrived at the mouth of the Pearl River in June 1517 and asked the naval commander of Nantou for permission to take his ships to Guangzhou. After a month with no definitive reply, Andrade decided to sail up the river to Guangzhou without permission from Ming authorities. When they arrived the Portuguese ships discharged cannon fire as a friendly salute, however this was not seen as a friendly gesture by the local Chinese who were greatly alarmed by the noise. The Portuguese explained that the Chinese traders did the same thing in Malacca, but the local officials only became even more suspicious as Chinese overseas trade was forbidden under Ming law. When official reception from Guangzhou arrived, tensions relaxed, and the Portuguese were received with much pomp as well as the right to t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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History Of Hong Kong (1800s–1930s)
Hong Kong (1800s–1930s) oversaw the founding of the new crown colony of Hong Kong under the British Empire. Wiltshire, Trea. irst published 1987(republished & reduced 2003). Old Hong Kong – Volume One. Central, Hong Kong: Text Form Asia books Ltd. ISBN Volume One 962-7283-59-2 After the First Opium War, the territory was ceded by the Qing Empire to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland through Treaty of Nanjing (1842) and Convention of Peking (1860) ''in perpetuity'', with additional land was leased to the British under the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory (1898), Hong Kong became one of the first parts of East Asia to undergo industrialisation. Territorial establishment Beginning of trade China was the main supplier of its native tea to the British, whose annual domestic consumption reached in 1830, an average of per head of population. From the British economic standpoint, Chinese tea was a crucial item since it provided massiv ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. By convention, the territories that fall outside of the Chinese mainland include: * Hong Kong, a quasi-dependent territory under PRC rule that is officially designated a " Special Administrative Region of the PRC" (formerly a British colony) * Macau, a quasi-dependent territory under PRC rule that is officially designated a "Special Administrative Region of the PRC" (formerly a Portuguese colony) * Territories ruled by the Republic of China (ROC, commonly referred to as Taiwan), including the island of Taiwan, the Penghu (Pescadores) islands in the Taiwan Strait, and the islands Kinmen, Matsu, and Wuqiu (Kinmen) offshore of Fujian. Overseas Chinese, especially Malaysian Chinese and Chinese Singaporeans, use this term to describe p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Human Trafficking
Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extraction of organs or tissues, including for surrogacy and ova removal. Human trafficking can occur within a country or trans-nationally. Human trafficking is a crime against the person because of the violation of the victim's rights of movement through coercion and because of their commercial exploitation. Human trafficking is the trade in people, especially women and children, and does not necessarily involve the movement of the person from one place to another. People smuggling (also called ''human smuggling'' and ''migrant smuggling'') is a related practice which is characterized by the consent of the person being smuggled. Smuggling situations can descend into human trafficking through coercion and exploitation. Trafficked people are hel ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the chief commercial crop is ''N. tabacum''. The more potent variant ''N. rustica'' is also used in some countries. Dried tobacco leaves are mainly used for smoking in cigarettes and cigars, as well as pipes and shishas. They can also be consumed as snuff, chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco, and snus. Tobacco contains the highly addictive stimulant alkaloid nicotine as well as harmala alkaloids. Tobacco use is a cause or risk factor for many deadly diseases, especially those affecting the heart, liver, and lungs, as well as many cancers. In 2008, the World Health Organization named tobacco use as the world's single greatest preventable cause of death. Etymology The English word ''tobacco'' originates from the Spanish word "tabaco ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pearl River (China)
The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-all for the watersheds of the Xi ("West"), Bei ("North"), and Dong ("East") rivers of Guangdong. These rivers are all considered tributaries of the Pearl River because they share a common delta, the Pearl River Delta. Measured from the farthest reaches of the Xi River, the Pearl River system is China's third-longest river, after the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, and second largest by volume, after the Yangtze. The Pearl River Basin () drains the majority of Liangguang (Guangdong and Guangxi provinces), as well as parts of Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan and Jiangxi in China; it also drains northern parts of Vietnam's Northeast Cao Bằng and Lạng Sơn provinces. As well as referring to the system as a whole, the Pearl River (Zhu Jiang) nam ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fan Lau Fort
Fan Lau Fort is a former military fortification located on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. Named after the eponymous peninsula it is situated on, it was built in 1729 during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor, a hundred and twelve years before the British took possession of Hong Kong. Abandoned in 1898, it became a declared monument of Hong Kong in 1981. History Construction of the Fan Lau Fort was completed in 1729, and was overseen by Yeung Lin (), the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces at the time. Its formation was recorded in the Macau Gazetteer, which recounted how the fort was one of two erected on Lantau Island during the seventh year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign. During the early part of the Qing dynasty, the fort was known as Tai Yu Shan Fort () – named after the romanized Chinese name of Lantau Island (Tai Yu Shan) – but was renamed to Kai Yik Fort () during the middle and later era of the dynasty. The purpose of the fort was to protect the passage ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fan Lau
Fan Lau () is a peninsula and area in the southwest tip of Lantau Island in Hong Kong. It is also the southwest end the territory of Hong Kong. The very end of the tip is Fan Lau Kok (). The peninsula separates water into Fan Lau Tung Wan () in the east, and Fan Lau Sai Wan () and Fan Lau Miu Wan () in the west. Fan Lau Tsuen Fan Lau Tsuen () is a village on the flat land between the peninsula and the main trunk of Lantau Island. It is located on the west bank of Fan Lau, facing Fan Lau Sai Wan. The village was previously named Shek Sun Village (石筍村, "Village of Stone Shoots") and there were not more than 200 people in the village in the most busy days. Most of the villagers have moved out of the village and some stayed in Tai O and Pui O of Lantau Island [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch
Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch is an organisation to encourage interest in Asia broadly, with an emphasis on Hong Kong. The society was founded in 1847 and folded 1859. It was revived on December 28, 1959. Its parent association is the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. The Society is open to all with an interest in the art, literature and culture of China and Asia, with special reference to Hong Kong. History In 1847 the Hong Kong branch of the Royal Asiatic Society was founded under its parent society, the Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. The latter had in turn been founded in 1823 by Sir Henry Thomas Colebrooke and others. In 1824 the Asiatic Society received a Royal Charter from patron King George IV and was charged with ‘the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia.’ In around 1838, branches were formed in Mumbai and Chennai, and Sri Lanka in 1845. The H ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mui Wo
Mui Wo is a rural town on the eastern coast of Lantau Island in Hong Kong. The 2011 Census recorded 5,485 people living in Mui Wo and its environs. Mui Wo is located on Silvermine Bay, so named for the silver mines that were once worked along the Silver River () which flows through the village. The main beach in Mui Wo is known as Silver Mine Bay Beach (). The town is known for the feral water buffalos and cows that roam the area. Prior to the Airport Core Programme and the subsequent development of Tung Chung and North Lantau into a new town, Mui Wo was the principal point for day-trippers setting out to explore Lantau Island. Today, it is still the principal way of reaching South Lantau – from the beaches in Cheung Sha to the fishing village of Tai O and the Tian Tan Buddha. With the opening of Ngong Ping 360 and the new, smoother Tung Chung Road, this may change. History The recorded history of Mui Wo dates back to the last days of the Southern Song dynasty. Fleeing so ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shek Pik
Shek Pik () is an area located along the southwestern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. When the Shek Pik Reservoir was built, villages at Shek Pik were demolished and the villagers were relocated to other parts of Lantau Island and to Tsuen Wan. Below the dam of the reservoir is Shek Pik Prison. Geography Shek Pik was originally a north-south oriented valley, until all the upper part was filled by the water of the Shek Pik Reservoir, which was completed in 1963. Before the construction of the reservoir, the valley was settled by several villages and most of the valley floor and the foothills were occupied by terraced paddy fields. The southern part of Shek Pik is facing the South China Sea and features three small bays. From West to East: Tai Long Wan (), Chung Hau () and Tung Wan (). Villages A tradition mentions that a clan from Ma Tau Wai in Kowloon accompanied the last two young emperors to Lautau Island and finally settled in Shek Pik to avoid the Mongol invasion a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |