Junk Bay known in Chinese as "Tseung Kwan O" (; also transliterated as "Cheung Kwan O") is a bay in
Sai Kung District,
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
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 ...
. In the northern tip of the bay lies the
Tseung Kwan O Village
Tseung Kwan O Village () is a community in the Tseung Kwan O area, in the Sai Kung District of Hong Kong.
Administration
Tseung Kwan O Village is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy.
Geography
Lying at the north ...
.
![Junk Bay (Tseung Kwan O), Hong Kong](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Junk_Bay_%28Tseung_Kwan_O%29%2C_Hong_Kong.jpg)
The
Tseung Kwan O New Town
Tseung Kwan O New Town is one of the nine new towns in Hong Kong, built mainly on reclaimed land in the northern half of Junk Bay (known as Tseung Kwan O in Chinese/Cantonese language) in southeastern New Territories, after which it is named. ...
, one of the nine
new towns
A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
in
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 ...
, was mainly built on
reclaimed land
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...
in the northern half of the bay. The population as of 2011 is about 368,000.
Name
In
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
, ''Tseung Kwan'' () means the "general" of an army, and ''O'' () means "bay". Therefore, ''Tseung Kwan O'' literally means "general's Bay".
The exact origin of the name Tseung Kwan O is unknown, but it is said to be named in honour of a
Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
soldier who visited Tseung Kwan O at some point. Another theory is that the name was chosen in the 17th century, when
naval battles were fought against
pirate
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
s from
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
at Tseung Kwan O. Yet another theory is that the pronunciation of "將軍" can sound like "Junk Wan" to the ears of English speakers; ''wan'' is also a transliteration of the Chinese word for "bay" ().
The current town center of Tseung Kwan O stands on reclaimed land. The English name ''Junk Bay'' was said to be derived from the existence of
junks in the bay, and the reclamation land based on the landfill . The first landfill was opened in 1978, decades after Junk Bay was named. The
Fat Tong Chau (Junk Island) is in the southeastern part of the bay.
History and geography
![Junk Bay 1952](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Junk_Bay_1952.jpg)
The bay is near the eastern mouth of Hong Kong's
Victoria Harbour
Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental i ...
.
A local gazette, ''Genuine record of Guangdong province'' (Chinese traditional: 粵大記), clearly contained the place name: 將軍澳 (Chinese characters of Tseung Kwan O). A genuine record of Guangdong province was published during the Ming Dynasty: Residents inhabited Tseung Kwan O area then.
Before the development of the new town, the area around the bay was occupied by fishing towns and villages. Settlements in the area began as early as in the 13th century. Major settlements, however, did not occur until the late 16th century when small fishing villages were founded in the area. Hang Hau quickly emerged into a market town and became the most populated and prosperous place in the whole of Clear Water Bay Peninsula; it continued for the next few centuries as such. Other towns and villages include
Rennie's Mill (Tiu Keng Leng),
Hang Hau
Hang Hau () is a residential area in Tseung Kwan O, Sai Kung District, Sai Kung, New Territories, Hong Kong. It is located at the eastern edge of the Tseung Kwan O New Town. Most of the land was Land reclamation in Hong Kong, reclaimed from Ha ...
and
Yau Yue Wan. Rennie's Mill was where
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
loyalists were settled following the end of the
Chinese civil war
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
, and Hang Hau had a ship-building industry.
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 (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong Special administrative regions of China, ...
had been interested in developing a new town at Hang Hau because of its proximity to the urban area. The project was postponed for a long time owing to the extensive scale of
reclamation
Reclaim, reclaimed, reclaimer, reclaiming or reclamation means "to get something back".
It may refer to:
* Land reclamation, creating new land from oceans, riverbeds, or lake beds
* Dedesertification, reversing of the land degradation in arid ...
in the bay, which is rather deep. It finally started under the name of Tseung Kwan O. The area of Tseung Kwan O is about 1,790 ha, with a projected population of 490,000 upon completion.
Tseung Kwan O today comprises five main areas: Po Lam, Hang Hau, Tseung Kwan O, Tiu Keng Leng and LOHAS Park. All 5 have MTR stations.
Climate
Development of Tseung Kwan O
In 1983, development of Phase I of the New Town to an initial population of about 175,000 was formally endorsed. By 1986, construction of the two tubes of Tseung Kwan O Tunnel began, which provided potential for further increasing the population of the New Town. To maximize the utilization of the road infrastructure and to meet the demand for land for public housing, the Government decided that the New Town should include a Phase II development, with an increase in the projected population to about 325,000. To cater for redevelopment of the Tiu Keng Leng Cottage Area and to provide land for development of Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate and deep waterfront industries, in 1988, the Government further decided to proceed with Phase III development of the New Town for about 490,000 people.
Photo gallery
Image:Dusk view of Tseung Kwan O Swimming Pool and Sports Centre.JPG, Tseung Kwan O Library at Dusk
Image:Hang Hau 201405.jpg, High density buildings in Hang Hau
Image:Tseung Kwan O Town Centre 201405.jpg, Tseung Kwan O Town Centre
Image:Tseung Kwan O Village 2004.jpg, Tseung Kwan O Village
Image:Po Lam Estate 2013.jpg, Po Lam Estate
Image:Tseung Kwan O Waterfront Promenade Pet Garden 2014.jpg, Tseung Kwan O South
Image:Tiu Keng Leng to Tseung Kwan O 2019 05.jpg, Tiu Keng Leng
Tiu Keng Leng (), formerly Rennie's Mill, is an area of Hong Kong in the Sai Kung District adjacent to Tseung Kwan O (Junk Bay).
The area used to be a refugee village housing former Kuomintang officials and followers who escaped to Hong Kon ...
and Tseung Kwan O South
Image:Above_Tseung_Kwan_O.jpg, Above Tseung Kwan O
See also
*
List of bays in Hong Kong
*
Tiu Keng Leng
Tiu Keng Leng (), formerly Rennie's Mill, is an area of Hong Kong in the Sai Kung District adjacent to Tseung Kwan O (Junk Bay).
The area used to be a refugee village housing former Kuomintang officials and followers who escaped to Hong Kon ...
*
Po Lam
Po Lam ( Chinese: 寶琳 or 寶林) is a neighbourhood in northern Tseung Kwan O, New Territories. An MTR station with the same name, Tseung Kwan O Village, Yau Yue Wan Village, King Lam Estate, and Po Lam Estate are located there.
Name
Po ...
References
{{Sai Kung District
Bays of Hong Kong
Sai Kung District
Restricted areas of Hong Kong red public minibus