Tai Tau Chau is an island in the Southern District,

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 ...

. Geographically, it is located in the southern

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...

. It connected to the

Shek O Shek O is an area of the south-eastern part of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. It can refers to Shek O village or Shek O Peninsula or Shek O Headland. Administratively, they are part of Southern District. Geography The name "Shek O" literal ...

Headland by a footbridge and a gravelbar ( tombolo) under it. The island itself is uninhabited.

Geography

On the sides of Tai Tau Chau and Shek O Headland were Island Bay and Shek O Wan (Rocky Bay) respectively. On the south of Tai Tau Chau, is another island

Ng Fan Chau Ng, ng, or NG may refer to: * Ng (name) (黄伍吳), a surname of Chinese origin Arts and entertainment * N-Gage (disambiguation), a handheld gaming system * Naked Giants, Seattle rock band * '' Spirit Hunter: NG'', a video game Businesses ...

. Shek O Headland and Tai Tau Chau are evidently as one rock formation, but was separated due to erosion, forming the tombolo between the headland and the island.

History

The waters surrounding Tai Tau Chau and Shek O is a black spot for human smuggling and trafficking. On 11 October 1979, a boat from (), Guangdong Province, had sank near the island. It was reported that, as of 15 October 1979, 16 illegal immigrants from that boat were missing, which a few swam to

Shek O Beach Shek O Beach is a gazetted beach located facing Island Bay in Shek O, Southern District, 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 about 230 ...

and trying to sneak to the city centre. And the rest of them were presume drown. Police also caught and rescued an additional 22 illegal immigrants, plus 9 corpses were discovered. On 14 October 1979, another boat was discovered near the island, but the illegal immigrants escaped before the arrival of the police. At that time Hong Kong had a policy that once the illegal immigrants had reached the city centre without being caught, they can apply for Hong Kong identity cards. The policy was terminated in 1980. In 1982, another 15 illegal immigrants arrived Tai Tau Chau by using a

sampan A sampan is a relatively flat-bottomed Chinese and Malay wooden boat. Some sampans include a small shelter on board and may be used as a permanent habitation on inland waters. The design closely resembles Western hard chine boats like th ...

Facilities

Tai Tau Chau has footpaths for hikers. It is part of Shek O Headland Picnic Area. Accidents were also reported. For example, a rock climber injured her legs when falling from the cliff of the island in 1977. In 1990, another rock climber was rescued by the firefighter. The island was used to be connected to Shek O Headland by a footbridge, as well as a tombolo that would be covered by water during high tides. However, the bridge was destroyed by a typhoon in 2018 and being re-built as of 2019. Along the bridge deck, a waste water pipe was installed to transport waste water from Shek O Preliminary Treatment Works to the island and then release to the

Tathong Channel Tathong Channel (), also known as Nam Tong Hoi Hap (, originally ), refers to the eastern sea waters in Hong Kong leading into Victoria Harbour through Lei Yue Mun, bounded by Junk Island ( Fat Tong Chau) and Tung Lung Chau in the east, and Hong K ...

. The pipe was also destroyed in that typhoon and the waste water had polluted the beach nearby.

References

{{Southern District, Hong Kong Islands of Hong Kong Southern District, Hong Kong Populated places in Hong Kong