Gap Rock Lighthouse

The Wanshan Archipelago, formerly known as the Ladrones Islands, is a 104-island archipelago that is a part of Xiangzhou District in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China.

Administration

Most of the islands of the archipelago are in the () which consist of three towns: Guishan Town (), Dangan Town () and Wanshan Town ().

Before was created in 1953, the islands were part of Po-On County.

Geography

The islands are situated in the South China Sea, to the south of the opening of the Pearl River estuary and Hong Kong.

The archipelago includes several groups of islands. The western group, located south of the Pearl River estuary and Lantau Island, was formerly known to Europeans as the Ladrones, from the Spanish for "thieves". It comprises Greater Wanshan, Guishan, and Wai Dangling Islands and the Zhizhou, Sanmen, and Aizhou groups. The eastern group, located south of Hong Kong Island, was known as the Lema Islands. Today, they are known as the Jiapeng Liedao and Dangan Liedao, respectively.

The largest island, Dangan, features mountainous terrain similar to Hong Kong.

List of islands

Islands of the archipelago include:

Dangan Liedao (), the eastern group of Wanshan archipelago, and the eastern half of the former Lema Islands chain
* Dangan Dao (), 13.2 km² in area and the largest of the islands; 200 permanent residents mainly along Zhangmu Bay and Hengkeng.
* Erzhou Dao (), 8.15 km²
* Zhiwan Dao (), 4.5 km²
* Xidan Dao (), 0.85 km²

Jiapeng Liedao (), the southern group of Wanshan archipelago, and the western half of the former Lema Islands chain
* Eyan Shi Dao (, O-yen Shih). A 39 m high islet about north of Beijian Dao.
* Beijian Dao (), 3.17 km². Two peaks rising almost perpendicularly to a height of 300 m on the southwestern end of the island, are known as Asses' Ears.
* Miaowan Dao (), 1.46 km² in area. 240 m high. It has a small population of fishermen.
* Shan Zhou (), 0.16 km²
* Wanzhou Dao ()
* Huangmao Zhou ()
* Ping Zhou (), 0.144 km²

* Wenwei Zhou (, also Gap Rock in English), 0.022 km². The small island is in the form of two hillocks, about high, and the island derives its English name from the gap between them. The () on the island was built to serve as a navigation aid to vessels sailing to Hong Kong. It was built by a Hong Kong contractor and partly funded by the Imperial Qing Government for both construction and maintenance costs. Besides the lighthouse it had separate European and living quarters, telegraph and storage rooms. It came into operation in 1892 under Hong Kong control (island still under Chinese sovereignty) staffed by British lighthouse keeper and assistants. The lighthouse lenses and windows were damaged by typhoons in 1893 and 1905, the keepers eventually abandoned the site, civil war in China left it in ruins by the 1930s and 1940s. Taken over in by the Communists in Beijing, lighthouse was restored in 1986 with solar panels and fully automated.

Southwestern group:
* Dawanshan Dao (), 8.07 km². The seat of Wanshan Town () of Zhuhai is located on the island
* Xiaowanshan Dao (), 4.35 km².Zhuhai Municipality website
Xiaowanshan Dao

* Baili Dao (), 7.94 km²
* Dong'ao Dao (), 4.62 km² in area with population of 500. Club Med opened a holiday resort on the island in 2014.
* Heng Zhou (), 0.54 km²
* Zhu Zhou (), 1.66 km²
* Gui Zhou (), 0.32 km²
* Dalie Dao (), 0.36 km²
* Huangmao Dao (), 1.08 km²

Central group, located south of Lantau:
* Wai Lingding Dao (), 3.7 km² in area and a tourist attraction with natural sites (Dangandao Provincial Nature Reserve) and temples. The seat of Dangan Town () of Zhuhai is located on the island
* Sanmen Liedao ()
** Hei Zhou ()
** Henggang Dao (), 0.74 km²
** Sanmen Dao (), 0.98 km²
** Sanmen Zhou ()
** Yuangang Dao (), 0.016 km²
** Zhuwantou Dao (), 0.33 km²
* Aizhou Liedao ()
** Ai Zhou (), 1.2 km²
** Ai Zhou Zi (), 0.6 km²

Northwestern group, located between Lantau and Macau:
* Zhizhou Liedao ()
** Dazhi Zhou (), 1.67 km²
** Xiaozhi Zhou (), 1.2 km²
* Guishan Dao () – formerly PLA base from the 1950s. The seat of Guishan Town () of Zhuhai is located on the island
* Niutou Dao (), 1.1 km². Connected by a road to Guishan Dao
* Zhongxin Zhou (), 0.6 km²
* Chitou Dao (), 0.17 km²
* Sanjiaoshan Dao (), 0.82 km²
* Qing Zhou ()
* Sanjiao Zhou
* Jishiling Pai ()
* Dalu Dao ()
* Datou Zhou ()

Other geographical elements

Other geographically important points of interest:

* Lema Channel is a major waterway in the archipelago.
* Dahengqin Dao is an island off Macau and not part of this archipelago.
* Erzhou, rising to 437.7 m above sea level, is the highest point in the archipelago

Population

There is a small local population, mostly in small fishing villages:

* Dangan
* Danganwei
* Nacun

Economy

The archipelago's economy is mainly fisheries (crystal prawn, peeler crab). There is a growing tourism industry with a focus on history, beaches, and the natural beauty of the islands. About 350,000 tourists visit the islands annually. Club Med opened a holiday resort on Dong'ao in 2014.

There is also potential for petroleum extraction in the waters off the islands.

Tourist sites

Tourist sites of Wanshan Archipelago include:
* Dong'ao: Blundbuss Tower; Son-Soliciting Springs
* Dangan: Dangan Village
* Guishan: Monument to the Martyrs of Guishan Warship; Wen Tianxiang Park
* Miaowan: Xiafeng Bay, a coral beach adjacent to the fishing village.
* Wanshan: A-Ma Temple; Floating Cobbles Bay

Transport

* Ferry service from Zhuhai to Guishan, Wai Lingding, Dan'gan, Dong'ao and Wanshan
* Fast/slow ferry service to Guishan, Wai Lingding, Xiangzhou
* Sightseeing ferryboats from Zhuhai

See also

* Wanshan Archipelago Campaign
* Guishan Offshore Windfarm
* Pirates of the South China Coast (18th–19th century)

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* The Atlas of Guangdong (), published by (Xingzhu Ditu Chubanshe), 2007. .

Further reading

*

External links

Aerial image of the islands (Google map)

Interactive map with the name of most islands

Map of the archipelago


Website of the Wanshan Marine Development Experimental Zone

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Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean
Archipelagoes of China
Populated places in China
Islands of Guangdong
Islands of China