Cheung Sha () is a rural area on the south coast of

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located West of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands ...

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

, Hong Kong. Along the South Lantau Road, Cheung Sha is located between

Tong Fuk Tong Fuk (, formerly ) is a village and an area on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. It is a popular place for holiday recreation. Tong Fuk Beach, to the south of the village, is a popular local attraction alongside the other beaches of South Lanta ...

(to the southwest) and San Shek Wan (to the northeast). The most notable feature of the area is the Cheung Sha Beach, the longest beach in Hong Kong.

History

The South Lantau Road, passing through Cheung Sha, was built in the mid-20th century from Silver Mine Bay to

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 Tsue ...

for access to the new reservoir there.

Features

Cheung Sha is rural in character and largely undeveloped. It is home to two small villages, namely Cheung Sha Ha Tsuen () and Cheung Sha Sheung Tsuen (). There are also a few low-density private housing developments. Cheung Sha Lower Village and Cheung Sha Upper Village are recognized villages under the

Small House Policy The Small House Policy (SHP, ) was introduced in 1972 in Hong Kong. The objective was to improve the then prevailing low standard of housing in the rural areas of the New Territories. The Policy allows an indigenous male villager who is 18 ye ...

. The Cheung Sha Beach () is the longest beach in Hong Kong. It actually comprises two beaches separated by a rocky outcropping:

Lower Cheung Sha Beach Lower Cheung Sha Beach is a gazetted beach located in Cheung Sha in southern Lantau Island, Hong Kong. The beach is managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong Government. The beach is 96 metres long and is rated as ...

() and

Upper Cheung Sha Beach Upper Cheung Sha Beach is a gazetted beach in Cheung Sha in southern Lantau Island, Hong Kong. The beach has barbecue pits and is managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong Government. The beach is rated as good to ...

(). On its own, Upper Cheung Sha Beach is still the longest beach in Hong Kong. The

Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the executive authorities of Hong Kong SAR. It was formed on 1 July 1997 in accordance with the Sino- ...

has holiday bungalows for government employees at Cheung Sha.

Proposed development

In January 2016, the Lantau Development Advisory Committee (LanDAC) proposed to build spas, resort hotels, and a "wedding centre" at Cheung Sha. The suggestion was part of a wider proposal to undertake major development of Lantau Island, increasing its population from approximately 100,000 to one million. The proposals were positively received by the government, but decried by various advocacy groups as destructive

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

reliant on more "

white elephant A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, construction project, sch ...

" infrastructure projects.

References

External links

Delineation of area of existing village Cheung Sha Lower Village (South Lantao) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)

Delineation of area of existing village Cheung Sha Upper Village (South Lantao) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)
{{Coord, 22.234, 113.951, display=title Populated places in Hong Kong Lantau Island Islands District