Wok Tai Wan () was a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

on the northwest

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

Tsing Yi Island Tsing Yi, sometimes referred to as Tsing Yi Island, is an island in the urban area of Hong Kong, to the northwest of Hong Kong Island and south of Tsuen Wan. With an area of , the island has extended drastically by reclamation along almost all ...

, Hong Kong. The beach in the bay was once a

naturist resort A naturist resort or nudist resort is an establishment that provides accommodation (or at least camping space) and other amenities for guests in a context where they are invited to practise naturism – that is, a lifestyle of non-sexual socia ...

. The difficulties involved in getting to the bay on foot with high its surrounding hills, or by small boat because of turbulence in the nearby sea, made it the ideal place for nudists to swim and sunbathe. Because of the resort, the bay once became an attraction for hikers even after the activities ceased. ''Wok Tai'' 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 ...

means the bottom of the ''wok'', a round-bottom pan. The bay named because its ''wok'' shape.

Nudism

In 1932, the

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

Herbert Edward Lanepart () set up a

nudist club A naturist resort or nudist resort is an establishment that provides accommodation (or at least camping space) and other amenities for guests in a context where they are invited to practise naturism – that is, a lifestyle of non-sexual socia ...

Heung Fan Liu Heung Fan Liu () is an area in Tai Wai, Sha Tin District, Hong Kong. History Heung Fan Liu derives its name from its former incense-making industry. Incense milling may have been conducted in Heung Fan Liu as early as the late Ming dynasty. It w ...

() in

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 ...

. He later sold the premises in 1938 because the building of

Shing Mun Reservoir Shing Mun Reservoir is a reservoir in Hong Kong. It is located in Shing Mun, the area between Tsuen Wan and Sha Tin, in the New Territories. History Several hundreds years ago, the area around the reservoir was a dense forest with very few inh ...

in 1935 and the

Japanese invasion of China The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Thea ...

in 1937 seriously affected his business. Between 1938 and 1941, he used his boat to take his nudist club members to the bay to continue their gathering. The number of members reached its height at around 20. During the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the Governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of British Hong Kong, Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. The surr ...

(1941–1945), he lost his boat and the club's activities were interrupted. He rented boats instead to take the members to the bay and reformed his club as a sunbathing club 1950s. On 1 January 1968, all nudist activities halted owing to insufficient participants.

Tsing Ma Bridge

The bay remained largely silent in the 1970s and 1980s, and only occasionally explorers came to find its past. The bay became more accessible when

Hongkong United Dockyards Hongkong United Dockyards () abbreviated to United Dockyards () or HUD is a dockyard built on the site of the former Shek Wan or "Stone Bay" (), on Tsing Yi Island of Hong Kong. History HUD was formed in 1973 from the merger of the Hong Ko ...

(HUD) was built closer to the bay in 1976. Tsing Yi Road was extended to the dockyard. The early 1990s saw construction of the

Tsing Ma Bridge Tsing Ma Bridge is a bridge in Hong Kong. It is the world's 16th-longest span suspension bridge, and was the second longest at time of completion. The bridge was named after the two islands it connects, namely Tsing Yi and Ma Wan. It has two ...

, an integral part of the Port and Airport Development Strategy. The suspension bridge spans from the hill at the back of Wok Tai Wan. Wok Tai Wan was reclaimed for building one of the two towers of the bridge and for a pier supporting the road from the tower to the hill. {{coord, 22.3527, 114.0808, display=t Tsing Yi Bays of Hong Kong Beaches of Hong Kong Naturist resorts