Amah Rock (, ''Mong Fu Shek'', "husband-watching stone") is a naturally shaped
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
located on a hilltop in southwest
Sha Tin District
Sha Tin District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. As one of the 9 districts located in the New Territories, it covers the areas of Sha Tin, Tai Wai, Ma On Shan, Fo Tan, Siu Lek Yuen, and Ma Liu Shui. The district is the most populo ...
,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
.
Description
The rock is approximately 15 meters in height, and is shaped much like a woman carrying a baby on her back. It stands above the entrance to the
Lion Rock Tunnel
The Lion Rock Tunnel, the first major road tunnel in Hong Kong, is a twin-bored toll tunnel, connecting Hin Tin, Sha Tin in the New Territories and New Kowloon near Kowloon Tong. It has two southbound lanes, and there are two northbound la ...
, within
Lion Rock Country Park
Lion Rock Country Park (established 24 June 1977) is a country park, located in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It consists of approximately of land, including Lion Rock and Mong Fu Shek (Amah Rock) and their surrounding scenic hillsides, of whi ...
.
Legend
According to a legend, the faithful wife of a fisherman climbed the hills every day, carrying her son, to watch for the return of her husband, not knowing he had been drowned at sea. In reward for her faithfulness she was turned into a rock by the
Goddess of the Sea
A water deity is a deity in mythology associated with water or various bodies of water. Water deities are common in mythology and were usually more important among civilizations in which the sea or ocean, or a great river was more important. Ano ...
so that her spirit could unite with that of her husband.
Lion Rock Country Park
Similar legends abound throughout the whole of China—the number of rocks called ''Mong Fu Shek'' in the country is high. Many Chinese classical poems were dedicated to this kind of rock.
Attraction
The rock is a popular tourist
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...
destination; the whole Sha Tin District can be seen from there. It is also a place of worship for Chinese women and stands as a symbol of women's loyalty and faithfulness.
See also
* Amah (occupation)
An amah or ayah (, pt, ama, german: Amme, Medieval Latin: ''amma''; or ''ayah'', pt, aia, Latin: ''avia'', Tagalog: ''yaya'') is a girl or woman employed by a family to clean, look after children, and perform other domestic tasks. ''Amah'' i ...
* Lion Rock
Lion Rock, or less formally Lion Rock Hill, is a mountain in Hong Kong. It is located in Sha Tin District, between Kowloon Tong of Kowloon and Tai Wai of the New Territories, and is high. The peak consists of granite covered sparsely by shr ...
* Tao Fong Shan Tao Fong Shan (), officially known as To Fung Shan, is a hill with a height of . It is in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. A road called To Fung Shan Road leads to the summit, where a Christian Centre can be found.
Place of Religious Worship
...
* List of places in Hong Kong
The following is a list of areashttp://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/MusicOffice/download/imts18.pdf of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Island
* Central and Western District
** Central District
***Admiralty
** Mid-Levels
***Soho
**Sai Wan
***Kenned ...
References
External links
Pictures of Amah Rock
2009-10-25)
*
{{Coord, 22, 21, 34.75, N, 114, 10, 47.24, E, display=title
Mountains, peaks and hills of Hong Kong
Sha Tin District
Rock formations of China
Cantonese folklore