HK ShingMumReservoir ValveTower Bellmouth Steel Bridge

Shing Mun Reservoir is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

in Hong Kong. It is located in

Shing Mun Shing Mun () is an area between Tsuen Wan and Sha Tin in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It used to be, as suggested by its Chinese characters, a gate between the two areas separated by a range of hills. History Before the construction of Shi ...

, the area between

Tsuen Wan Tsuen Wan (formerly also spelled Tsun Wan) is a town built on a bay in the western New Territories of Hong Kong, opposite of Tsing Yi Island across Rambler Channel. The market town of Tsuen Wan emerged from the surrounding villages and flee ...

and

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 ...

, 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 ...

History

Several hundreds years ago, the area around the reservoir was a dense forest with very few inhabitants. At least from 1646 to 1659,

Southern Ming The Southern Ming (), also known as the Later Ming (), officially the Great Ming (), was an imperial dynasty of China and a series of rump states of the Ming dynasty that came into existence following the Jiashen Incident of 1644. Shun forces ...

loyalist Li Wanrong (李萬榮), leading a cohort numbering in thousands, controlled Kowloon and much of today's New Territories, collecting taxes and fortifying villages, including erecting a fortress in the lower part of the Shing Mun River valley. Hence the area became known as Shing Mun or "fortified gate". After 1669, when the

Great Clearance The Great Clearance (), also translated as the Great Evacuation or Great Frontier Shift, was caused by edicts issued in 1661, 1664, and 1679, which required the evacuation of the coastal areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangnan, and Shandon ...

imposed by the

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...

of the Qing dynasty was rescinded, many

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

s settled in this area, growing rice, tea and pineapples. In the early 20th century, there were seven villages in the area. The Shing Mun Reservoir was built as part of the Shing Mun Water Supply Scheme formulated in 1923 to meet the increasing demand for fresh water due to the urbanisation of

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and t ...

. To a design by London dam engineers Messrs Binnie, Deacon & Gourley, construction began in 1933 of a dam 122 metres wide and 35 metres high which, upon completion, had a capacity of 4 billion litres. By the conclusion of Phase Three of the scheme in 1937, the dam had been extended to 85 metres in height and 13.6 billion litres capacity. The name Jubilee Reservoir () was designated to celebrate the Silver Jubilee (1935) of

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, though the name has fallen into disuse. The local inhabitants were resettled in other parts of the New Territories, and now some of the old villages are submerged. The remains of other villages and houses can be seen in the woods on the side of the reservoir. The remains of

Gin Drinkers Line The Gin Drinkers Line, or Gin Drinkers' Line, was a British military defensive line against the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong during the Battle of Hong Kong in December 1941, part of the Pacific War. The concept came from France's Maginot L ...

on the nearby hills show the defences of British forces against the Japanese invasion during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. To preserve the natural environment of the reservoir, the surrounding area is managed under

Shing Mun Country Park The Shing Mun Country Park (established 24 June 1977) is a country park of Hong Kong, hugging the Shing Mun Reservoir. Location Located in the central New Territories, it covers a total of . It extends from Lead Mine Pass in the north, to the Shi ...

. Two walking trails,

Wilson Trail The Wilson Trail () is a long-distance footpath in Hong Kong, 63 km of which runs through Hong Kong country parks.MacLehose Trail The MacLehose Trail is a 100-kilometre hiking trail that crosses much of the New Territories, Hong Kong, starting from Pak Tam Chung, Sai Kung District in the east to Tuen Mun Town, Tuen Mun District in the west. The path is marked by distance po ...

, cross at the side of the reservoir. In addition,

Macaque The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and (in one instance) Gibraltar. Macaques are principally ...

monkeys are common in the area.

Monument declaration

A total of 41 pre-World War II waterworks structures located in six reservoir areas, namely

Pok Fu Lam Reservoir Pok Fu Lam Reservoir, formerly known as the Pokefulum Reservoir, is the first reservoir in Hong Kong. It is located in a valley in Pok Fu Lam. History Before the completion of the reservoir in 1863, the people in the city got their water by ...

, Tai Tam Group of Reservoirs,

Wong Nai Chung Reservoir Wong Nai Chung Reservoir Park is a park and artificial lake in the Wong Nai Chung Gap, Wong Nai Chung, Hong Kong, located near Hong Kong Parkview. It was formerly Wong Nai Chung Reservoir (), a closed reservoir in Hong Kong. Background Wong ...

, Kowloon Reservoir, Shing Mun (Jubilee) Reservoir and Aberdeen Reservoir, were declared as monuments in September 2009. The Memorial Stone of Shing Mun Reservoir was declared as one of the monuments.

References

External links

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Water Supplies Department The Water Supplies Department (WSD; ) is the department under Development Bureau of the Government of Hong Kong of the People's Republic of China providing a reliable and adequate supply of wholesome potable water and sea water to customers i ...

Shing Mun Reservoir
{{Reservoirs of Hong Kong Reservoirs in Hong Kong Shing Mun Tsuen Wan District Declared monuments of Hong Kong

History

Monument declaration

See also

References

External links