Deep Bay, Hong Kong

Deep Bay is a

bay

between Yuen Long District, in the New Territories, Hong Kong and the city of

Shenzhen

in

Guangdong

Province. It is otherwise known as Hau Hoi Wan () in Hong Kong, and Shenzhen Bay () in Mainland China.

Name

The local Cantonese name of the bay is Hau Hoi Wan (), which means the ''back (sea) bay''. It is opposite to another bay, Tsin Hoi Wan (), which means ''front (sea) bay'', on the other side of Nantau Peninsula. The Chinese character 后 (Hau, lit. queen) in 后海灣 is the homonym of 後 (Hau, lit. back), and also its simplified character. Some attribute the character 后 (Hau) to the goddess of mercy and sea,

Tin Hau

().

The name of Shenzhen Bay came much later, at least after the establishment of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in 1980. The name became more notable after a hotel was named Shenzhen Bay. While the government of China uses the name widely, the people and government in Hong Kong continue to use the official name ().

Ecology

As the bay is largely enclosed by land,

fresh water

from the surrounding land enters the bay from a shallow shore of

wetland

. The margin of fresh water and

salt water

forms a valuable habitat for a wide variety of life.

The bay's northern shore used to be lined with

marsh

es. As Shenzhen began to develop into a major urban centre, the northern shoreline was reclaimed to provide land for buildings. Some departments had tried to preserve the endangered environment but mistakenly introduced foreign species of

mangrove

, which threatened their indigenous counterparts.

The marshes remain largely intact along the southern part of the bay, which is under Hong Kong's jurisdiction. Mai Po is an important habitat for migrating birds in the area. Pools of former fish farms is another attraction to birds.

Agriculture and fisheries

The bay is rich in

fish

and

oyster

s. Lau Fau Shan is particularly famous for oysters in Hong Kong. From Lau Fau Shan to Mai Po, the villagers made use of the special environment's pools to cultivate fishes. A by-product of this cultivation, greasyback shrimp (), is also a delicacy in Hong Kong.

Illegal immigrants

Before 1949, Chinese people were free to travel between

Hong Kong

and

mainland China

. In order to halt a large influx of refugees from mainland China, the Hong Kong Government established border control and compulsory registration of Hong Kong residents.

As a result, it was harder to migrate to Hong Kong than before and thus many crossed the border illegally. Deep Bay became the main access for illegal immigrants because border controls were harder to enforce at sea. It was relatively easy to cross the bay and there were major roads to the urban centres of Hong Kong. The rural town of Lau Fau Shan was the major landing point.

See also

* Qianhai, the commercial district of Shenzhen named after "front bay"
*List of bays in Hong Kong
*Hong Kong–Shenzhen Western Corridor, the bridge crossing the Deep Bay from Shenzhen to Hong Kong

External links

Google Maps of Deep Bay

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Bays of Hong Kong
Bays of Guangdong
Yuen Long District
Lau Fau Shan
Mai Po
Nanshan District, Shenzhen