Ap Chau (), also known as Robinson Island, with a size of 0.04 km² is an island in the Crooked Harbour, in the north-eastern

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 city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. It is located in Ap Chau Bay (; Ap Chau Hoi). Islets located close by include Ap Chau Pak Tun Pai, Ap Chau Mei Pak Tun Pai, Ap Lo Chun, Ap Tan Pai and Kau Tau Shek.

Name

Robinson Island was named after

Hercules Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead Hercules George Robert Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead, (19 December 1824 – 28 October 1897), was a British colonial administrator who became the 5th Governor of Hong Kong and subsequently, the 14th Governor of New South Wales, the first Gove ...

, who was the 5th

Governor of Hong Kong The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the British Crown in Hong Kong from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and commander-in-chief of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong. ...

from 1859 to 1865.

Administration

Ap Chau is under the administration of North District. It 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 ...

History

The village on the island was set up by American preachers from the then Taiwan-based

True Jesus Church The True Jesus Church (TJC) is a non-denominational Christian Church that originated in Beijing, China, during the Pentecostal movement in the early twentieth century. The True Jesus Church is currently one of the largest Christian groups in Chi ...

in order to shelter fishermen and their families who converted to Christianity in the 1960s. Being so close to mainland China, before the

transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

the island was a magnet for illegal immigrant swimmers, one reason being that the well lit public lavatory block was something of a beacon at night. The single primary school on the island opened in 1958. There used to be over 700 inhabitants called the

Tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the ''Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short poem ...

, an originally non-Chinese ethnic minority who were mostly fishermen but most have moved over to cities in 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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

such as

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is a ...

, Leicester,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Elgin Elgin may refer to: Places Canada * Elgin County, Ontario * Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Chatham-Kent, Ontario * Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontario ...

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. The church on the island is still active. The island had 8 inhabitants as of June 2008.
http://hk.asia-city.com/travel/article/ap-chau "Ap Chau", ''HK magazine'', Jun 19, 2008]

Features

To promote tourism, in April 2018 the Ap Chau Story Room opened for public visits on Sundays and public holidays. Fresh water in Ap Chau is obtained from

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater Chin ...

using an underground pipe.

Conservation

The northern part of Ap Chau is part of the

Double Haven Special Area Double Haven or Yan Chau Tong () is a harbour enclosed by Double Island, Crescent Island and Crooked Island within the north-eastern New Territories of Hong Kong. It is known for its scenery and natural environment, and for the calm seas from ...

() that covers 0.8 hectare and was designated in 2011. The Special Area includes the islets Pak Ka Chau, Yan Chau (both within Double Haven) as well as the islet of Ap Lo Chun and a part of Ap Chau (both within Crooked Harbour). The geology of the area is characterised by

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particle ...

s of the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

and

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

periods.

Transport

Kut O Village Rural Committee (Tung Lok House) Limited operates a daily kaito service to both Ap Chau and Kat O from

Sha Tau Kok Sha Tau Kok is a closed town in Hong Kong. The last remaining major settlement in the Frontier Closed Area, it is Hong Kong's northernmost town. Geography The small rural village of Sha Tau Kok is located on the northern shoreline of St ...

. But since the Sha Tau Kok Public Pier is in a restricted area, only restricted area pass holders are permitted to access the pier and take the kaito. Best Sonic Industrial Limited operates kaito services to Ap Chau and Kat O from Ma Liu Shui pier on weekends and public holidays from 2018.

References

External links

Delineation of area of existing village Ap Chau (Sha Tau Kok) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)

Pictures of Ap Chau

Pictures of Ap Chau church

RTHK program about Ap Chau

CNN.com {{North District, Hong Kong Islands of Hong Kong North District, Hong Kong