Chek Lap Kok 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 ...

in the western waters of

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 ...

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 ...

. Unlike the smaller Lam Chau, it was only partially leveled when it was assimilated via

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamat ...

into the island for the current

Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distingui ...

, which opened for commercial aviation in 1998. The airport is popularly referred to as ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'' to distinguish it from the former Hong Kong International Airport, now commonly known as

Kai Tak Airport Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply Ka ...

(). Hong Kong SkyCity, a business and entertainment complex, is also located on Chek Lap Kok. It includes AsiaWorld–Expo, a convention and exhibition centre, which opened in 2005. Cathay Pacific City, the head office of

Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have ...

; HAECO, and formerly

Hong Kong Airlines Hong Kong Airlines Limited (stylised as HONGKONG AIRLINES) is an airline based in Hong Kong, with its headquarters in the Tung Chung district and its main hub at Hong Kong International Airport. It was established in 2006 as a member of t ...

are also located on the airport platform.

Name

The name of the island may be derived from the bareness of the island ('da chek lak'), that the shape of the island resembles the red tripletail

Perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...

('chek lap', 赤鱲), or that the fish was once abundant in its vicinity.

Geography

The island is located north of

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located West of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands ...

off

Ma Wan Chung Ma Wan Chung () is a village in Tung Chung on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It is located on the southeastern coast of Tung Chung Bay. Administration Ma Wan Chung is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. See also * Ch ...

and

Tung Chung Tung Chung, meaning " eastern stream", is an area on the northwestern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. One of the most recent new towns, it was formerly a rural fishing village beside Tung Chung Bay, and along the delta and lower courses of ...

. Before the building of the airport platform, it was a small and hilly island, about long, with an area of (other sources mention ). The southern end of the island formed a small peninsula, which has been left largely undeveloped. This area is facing Tung Chung and is now named Scenic Hill. It is the site of the Ancient Kiln Park and the Airport Island Angle Station of the

Ngong Ping 360 Ngong Ping 360 is a bicable gondola lift on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. Intended to improve tourism to the area, the aerial lift was previously known as Tung Chung Cable Car Project before acquiring the Ngong Ping 360 brand in April 2005. It ...

cable car.

History

The island has been inhabited on and off since the Middle Neolithic period 6,000 years ago. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the inhabitants of the island practised farming, including rice cultivation, and quarrying. At the time of the 1911 census, the population of Chek Lap Kok was 77. The number of males was 55. The population was about 200 in the 1950s, rising sharply in the 1960s. The population later declined, with some 20 families remaining on the island when the plan for the construction of a new airport was announced in the early 1990s. Archeological surveys and investigations were conducted on the island starting in the late 1970s. A salvage archaeology project started in October 1990. The original farming and fishing villages on the island were relocated to Chek Lap Kok New Village aka. Chek Lap Kok San Tsuen () near Tung Chung on Lantau Island. A Tin Hau Temple had been built in 1823 at the north east of the island. The entire temple was built of granite quarried on the island. It was dismantled in 1991 and rebuilt in 1994 at its present location. Chek Lap Kok San Tsuen is a recognized village under the

Small House Policy The Small House Policy (SHP, ) was introduced in 1972 in Hong Kong. The objective was to improve the then prevailing low standard of housing in the rural areas of the New Territories. The Policy allows an indigenous male villager who is 18 ye ...

. Also,

Romer's tree frog Romer's tree frog (''Romerus romeri'') is a species of frog native to Hong Kong and a small portion of Guangxi, China. With an average snout-vent length of 1.5 – 2.5 cm, it is the smallest amphibian recorded in the territory. Despite i ...

(''Philautus romeri''), a unique

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

of finger-sized

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

found only in Hong Kong, was relocated from Chek Lap Kok to new

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s on Lantau Island before construction of the airport. A third runway at Hong Kong Airport is being built as part of the

Hong Kong International Airport Master Plan 2030 Hong Kong International Airport ("HKIA"), is connected to about 180 destinations, through over 1,000 daily flights by more than 100 airlines. In order to meet future demand until 2030 and beyond, the Airport Authority Hong Kong ("AAHK") proposed ...

. File:20091002 Hong Kong Ngong Ping 360 Skyrail 6420.jpg, View of the Airport Island Angle Station of the

cable car system built on Scenic Hill, the unlevelled peninsula in the south of Chek Lap Kok. File:Scenic_Hill_Pavilion.jpg, Scenic Hill Pavilion File:HK ChepLapKokTinHauTemple.JPG, Rebuilt Tin Hau Temple in the new Chek Lap Kok Village.

Climate

References

External links

Delineation of area of existing village Chek Lap Kok (Tung Chung) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)
(Chek Lap Kok New Village) {{HKIA Artificial islands of Hong Kong Islands District Restricted areas of Hong Kong red public minibus