Ma On Shan (; literally: Horse Saddle Peak) is a saddle-shaped peak in east of

Tolo Harbour Tolo Harbour, or Tai Po Hoi (, historically ) is a sheltered harbour in northeast New Territories of Hong Kong. Geography Tide Cove aka. Sha Tin Hoi is to the south of the harbour, and Plover Cove, Three Fathoms Cove and Tolo Channel are to ...

in the

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 ...

. With a height of 702 metres (2,303 ft), it stands among the ten highest mountains in Hong Kong. The mountain borders

Sha Tin Sha Tin, also spelt Shatin, is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project. The ne ...

and

Tai Po Tai Po is an area in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It refers to the vicinity of the traditional market towns in the area presently known as Tai Po Old Market or Tai Po Kau Hui () (the original "Tai Po Market") on the north of Lam Tsu ...

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

. Beneath the west face of the mountain along

, the

Ma On Shan Ma On Shan may refer to: * Ma On Shan (peak) ( zh, t=馬鞍山, s=马鞍山, l=saddle peak, links=no), a mountain in the New Territories of Hong Kong * Ma On Shan (town), a New Town in the New Territories on the foot of Ma On Shan mountain * Ma On ...

new town extension, administratively part of

, is named after the hill. It ends north in

Wu Kai Sha Wu Kai Sha (), formerly known as Wu Kwai Sha or U Kwai Sha (), is a place at the shore of Tolo Harbour, northwest of Ma On Shan in the New Territories, Hong Kong. Wu Kai Sha is within the Sha Tin District, one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. ...

. A group of villages located east of the peak is named

Shap Sze Heung Shap Sze Heung, sometimes transliterated as Shap Sz Heung (), is an area in Hong Kong located in the northern part of the Sai Kung Peninsula. Administration Despite its proximity to the neighbouring areas administered by Sha Tin and Sai Kun ...

and the harbour of

Three Fathoms Cove Three Fathoms Cove or Kei Ling Ha Hoi () is a cove in Tai Po District, Hong Kong. Geography Three Fathoms Cove is surrounded by Shap Sze Heung (Tseng Tau, Nga Yiu Tau, Sai Keng and Kei Ling Ha are along the coast), Yung Shue O, Wong Tei Tu ...

Geography

Ma On Shan can be distinguished by the west face which looks like a saddle, and "Ma On Shan" can be translated as "horse saddle mountain". Nine streams flow down from Ma On Shan, with the biggest located on the southwest slope of Ma On Shan, near

Ma On Shan Village Ma On Shan Village or Ma On Shan Tsuen () is a mining village in the hills of Ma On Shan, Sha Tin District, Hong Kong. The village grew around the activity of the Ma On Shan Iron Mine, which reached its peak during the 1950s-60s and ceased o ...

Geology

Ma On Shan is formed by

Volcanic rocks Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a Rock (geology), rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of Volcano, volcanic origin. Like all rock types, ...

, much like many of the tallest mountains in Hong Kong, such as

Tai Mo Shan Tai Mo Shan is the highest mountain, peak in Hong Kong, with an elevation of . It is located at approximately the geographical centre of the New Territories. The Tai Mo Shan Country Park covers an area of around Tai Mo Shan. It is located ...

. Some shorter mountains in Hong Kong are formed by older Granitic rocks. In the 20th century, the mountain was formerly mined for its high-purity (60%)

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

, with annual output in the 1950s and 1960s exceeding 100,000 tonnes.Take a glimpse of Hong Kong’s mining past
EJ Insight, 26 Sept 2015 An extensive network of tunnels is buried under the hill. The iron mine was abandoned when it became uncompetitive, in the 1970s.

Vegetation

The north slope of Ma On Shan is mostly tree-covered, while the south slope is mainly shrubs and grasses. On these hostile volcanic hills, only hardy and highly adaptable plants survive. There are some rare flora species, including ''

Rhododendron simsii ''Rhododendron simsii'' (杜鵑) is a rhododendron species native to East Asia, where it grows at altitudes of . Description It is a twiggy evergreen or semi-evergreen shrub growing to in height, with leaves that are ovate, elliptic-ovate or ob ...

'', which blooms with red flowers in late March, and two other species of native ''

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

''. Rare and protected species of plants also grow on Ma On Shan including the Chinese Lily ('' Lilium brownii'') which is found on the mountain's eastern slope. A few types of wild orchid grow in the streams of Ma On Shan, including Hong Kong's most common orchid, the Bamboo Orchid, so called because its distinctive stem resembles bamboo.

Wildlife

The natural environment of Ma On Shan is relatively undisturbed, so this valuable sanctuary gives shelter to many wildlife species. Common mammals are

Chinese pangolin The Chinese pangolin (''Manis pentadactyla'') is a pangolin native to the northern Indian subcontinent, northern parts of Southeast Asia and southern China. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2014, as the w ...

(''Manis pentadactyla''), Chinese porcupine (''Hystrix brachyura''),

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

(''Sus scrofa'') and

common muntjac The Indian muntjac or the common muntjac (''Muntiacus muntjak''), also called the southern red muntjac and barking deer, is a deer species native to South and Southeast Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. In popular local ...

(''Muntiacus muntjac'').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma On Shan (Peak) Mountains, peaks and hills of Hong Kong * Sha Tin District Tai Po District

Geography

Geology

Vegetation

Wildlife

See also

References