Tung Lung Chau, previously known as Nam Tong Island or Nam Fat Tong is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

located off the tip of the

Clear Water Bay Peninsula :''The Chinese name'' 清水灣半島 ''should not be confused with Oscar by the Sea, a private housing estate in Tseung Kwan O.'' Clear Water Bay Peninsula (), is a peninsula in Sai Kung District, Hong Kong. The peninsula separates Junk Bay f ...

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 List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

. It is also referred by

Hong Kong people Hongkongers (), also known as Hong Kongers, Hong Kongese, Hongkongese, Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong people, typically refers to residents of the territory of Hong Kong; although may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the ...

as Tung Lung To or Tung Lung Island (). The island is largely uninhabited. Administratively, it belongs to

Sai Kung District Sai Kung District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China. The district comprises the southern half of the Sai Kung Peninsula, the Clear Water Bay Peninsula in the New Territories and a strip of ...

Geography

The island has an area of . It forms the eastern boundary of

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 ...

, which leads into

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbor, 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 instrume ...

through

Lei Yue Mun Lei Yue Mun is a short channel in Hong Kong. It lies between Junk Bay and Victoria Harbour, separating Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. The channel is an important passage for the city, forming the eastern entrance of Victoria Harbour. The land ...

. The northern tip of Tung Lung Chau is separated from the southern tip of

by the narrow Fat Tong Mun Channel (). The highest point of the island is at Nam Tong Peak (), at an altitude of 250m.

History

Emperor Duanzong Emperor Duanzong of Song (10 July 1269 – 8 May 1278), personal name Zhao Shi, was the 17th emperor of the Song dynasty of China and the eighth and penultimate emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. He was the fifth son of Emperor Duzong and ...

of the

Southern Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

once stayed at Kwu Tap () on the island.

Sights

Tung Lung Chau is the site of

Tung Lung Fort Tung Lung Fort, also known as Fat Tong Fort, is a fort on the Tung Lung Chau on the south east water of Hong Kong. History It is said the fort was built as a part of a maritime defence system to protect trade and fend off pirates. The fort, ...

, which was constructed 300 years ago and recently refurbished. A prehistoric

stone carving Stone carving is an activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, stone work has survived which was created during our prehistory or past time. Work carrie ...

can also be found on the island. Measuring 180 cm by 240 cm, it is the largest ancient rock carving in Hong Kong. The stone carving was mention in the 1819 ''

Gazetteer of Xin'an County ''Xin'an Xianzhi'' (; literally ''Gazetteers of Xin'an County'') were the chorography of the historical Xin'an County (San-On or Sun-On County; literally ''New Peace County''; known at times as the Po-On County (spelt Bao'an in pinyin)) of Guan ...

''. There is a

Hung Shing Temple Hung Shing Temples or Tai Wong Temples are temples dedicated to Hung Shing Tai Wong (). Hung Shing temples have been widely built in southern China, especially Guangdong province The table provides a partial list of these temples. Hung Shing F ...

on the island, at a location called Nam Tong (). The temple was built before 1931. Inside the temple, a huge rock, called 'Holy Rock' () by the worshipers, is protruding from the rear wall of the right chamber. A

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Japanese small gun emplacement was located near Tathong Point (, Nam Tong Mei), probably to guard Tathong Channel. It is believed that the existence of this facility may have been the reason why the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

bombed the island.

Rock climbing

Tung Lung houses some of the best sport climbing venues in Hong Kong. *Technical Wall *Sea Gully Wall

Conservation

Tung Lung Fort Special Area was designated as a Special Area under country parks in 1979 and covers 3 hectares. The area contains the fort and a campsite.Tung Lung Chau Campsite
/ref> Both

and the stone carving are

declared monuments of Hong Kong Declared monuments of Hong Kong are places, structures or buildings legally declared to receive the highest level of protection. In Hong Kong, declaring a monument requires consulting the Antiquities Advisory Board, the approval of the Chief Exec ...

Transportation

On weekends,

kai-to The kai-to, sometimes kaito or kaido () is a type of small, motorised ferry that operates in Hong Kong. They are usually used to serve remote coastal settlements in the territory's outlying islands.: "Cargo junks of the type still known as k ...

service is available from Sam Ka Tsuen, near

(Kowloon side) and is operated by

Coral Sea Ferry 250px, Coral Sea Ferry's kai-to sailing into Kwun Tong Public Pier. Coral Sea Ferry Service Company Limited () also known as Coral Sea Ferry () is a ferry transport company in Hong Kong. It was established in 1992 and took over the Sam Ka Tsuen - ...

. The round-trip fare for the 30-minute journey was HK$45 in May 2020. A service from Sai Wan Ho was operated by

Lam Kee Ferry Lam Kee Ferry () was a ferry services provider 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 List of cities in Ch ...

until 26 January 2014 and, after a hiatus of eight months, another operator resumed the service for a round-trip fare of HK$55 for adults and HK$40 for children aged 3 and above.

References

External links

Pictures of the Hung Shing Temple
{{Coord, 22, 14, 57, N, 114, 17, 23, E, display=title, type:isle Uninhabited islands of Hong Kong Sai Kung District