Shing Mun Reservoir
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Shing Mun Reservoir is a
reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...
in Hong Kong. It is located in
Shing Mun Shing Mun () is an area between Tsuen Wan and Sha Tin in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It used to be, as suggested by its Chinese characters, a gate between the two areas separated by a range of hills. History Before the construction of Shin ...
, the area between
Tsuen Wan Tsuen Wan (formerly also spelled Tsun Wan) is a New towns of Hong Kong, town built on a bay in the New Territories West (constituency), western New Territories of Hong Kong, opposite Tsing Yi, Tsing Yi Island across Rambler Channel. The market ...
and
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 new ...
, in the
New Territories The New Territories (N.T., Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: ) is one of the three areas of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of H ...
. Administratively, it is located within the boundaries of
Tsuen Wan District Tsuen Wan District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is located in the New Territories and is served by the Tsuen Wan line of the MTR metro system. Its area is 60.7 km2. Its residents, who mostly live in Tsuen Wan Town, enjo ...
.


History


Human life in Shing Mun Reservoir

Several hundreds years ago, the area around the reservoir was a dense forest with very few inhabitants. At least from 1646 to 1659,
Southern Ming The Southern Ming (), also known in historiography as the Later Ming (), officially the Great Ming (), was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and a series of rump states of the Ming dynasty that came into existence following the ...
loyalist Li Wanrong (), leading a cohort numbering in thousands, controlled Kowloon and much of today's New Territories, collecting taxes and fortifying villages, including erecting a fortress in the lower part of the Shing Mun River valley. Hence the area became known as Shing Mun or "fortified gate". After 1669, when the
Great Clearance The Great Clearance (), also translated as the Great Evacuation or Great Frontier Shift, was caused by edicts issued in 1661, 1664, and 1679, which required the evacuation of the coastal areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangnan, and Shando ...
imposed by the
Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 165420 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, personal name Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign of 61 ...
of the Qing dynasty was rescinded, many
Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...
s settled in this area, growing rice, tea and pineapples. In the early 20th century, there were seven villages in the area.


Construction

The Shing Mun Reservoir was built as part of the Shing Mun Water Supply Scheme formulated in 1923 to meet the increasing demand for fresh water due to the urbanisation of
Kowloon Kowloon () is one of the areas of Hong Kong, three areas of Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is an urban area comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a populat ...
. To a design by London dam engineers Messrs Binnie, Deacon & Gourley, construction began in 1933 of a dam 122 metres wide and 35 metres high which, upon completion, had a capacity of 4 billion litres. By the conclusion of Phase Three of the scheme in 1937, the dam had been extended to 85 metres in height and 13.6 billion litres capacity. The name Jubilee Reservoir () was designated to celebrate the
Silver Jubilee Silver Jubilee marks a 25th anniversary. The anniversary celebrations can be of a wedding anniversary, the 25th year of a monarch's reign or anything that has completed or is entering a 25-year mark. Royal Silver Jubilees since 1750 Note: This ...
(1935) of
King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...
of 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, though the name has fallen into disuse.
Antiquities Advisory Board The Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) is a statutory body of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with the responsibility of advising the Secretary for Development, Antiquities Authority on any matters relating to antiquities and monum ...
. Historic Building Appraisal
Shing Mun (Jubilee) Reservoir, Gorge Dam, Valve Tower, Steel Bridge, Bellmouth Overflow, & Memorial Stone
/ref>


Effect on locals

The local inhabitants were resettled in other parts of the New Territories, including
Shing Mun San Tsuen Kam Tin Shing Mun San Tsuen () or Kam Tin San Tsuen () is a village in the Kam Tin area of Yuen Long District, Hong Kong. Administration Kam Tin San Tsuen is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. History Kam Tin Shi ...
,
Wo Hop Shek Wo Hop Shek () is an area in the south of Fanling, Hong Kong. It consists of villages and recently developed housing estates. The area is famous for its large public cemetery, Wo Hop Shek Public Cemetery, on the nearby hillside. Every year, du ...
,
Pan Chung Pan Chung () is a walled village in Tai Po District, Hong Kong. Administration Pan Chung and neighboring Pan Chung San Tsuen () are recognized villages under the New Territories Small House Policy. It is one of the villages represented within t ...
and
Kam Tsin Wai Kam Tsin Wai () is a village located in the south of Shek Kong Airfield, in Pat Heung, Yuen Long District, Hong Kong.Antiquities Advisory Board. Historic Building AppraisalCheng Hon Pang Ancestral Hall, Kam Tsin Wai, Pat Heung/ref> Administrat ...
.
Antiquities Advisory Board The Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) is a statutory body of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with the responsibility of advising the Secretary for Development, Antiquities Authority on any matters relating to antiquities and monum ...
. Historic Building Appraisal
Cheng Hon Pang Ancestral Hall, Kam Tsin Wai, Pat Heung
/ref> Some of the old villages are now submerged. The remains of other villages and houses can be seen in the woods on the side of the reservoir. The remains of
Gin Drinkers Line The Gin Drinkers Line, or Gin Drinkers' Line, was a British military defensive line against the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong during the Battle of Hong Kong in December 1941, part of the Pacific War. The concept came from France's Maginot L ...
on the nearby hills show the defences of British forces against the Japanese invasion during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Features

The main dam, or Gorge Dam, located at the southern end of the reservoir incorporated several technological novelties at the time of its construction. The dam is an early form of
concrete-faced rockfill dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, drinking water, human consumption, Indust ...
with the upstream
reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...
face being near vertical, supported on a mass concrete thrust block. The 85m high dam was the then (1936) highest dam in the old
British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
. The bellmouth overflow is a circular masonry structure in the reservoir surmounted by a masonry footbridge connecting it to the shore. This uncommon feature replaces the overspill
weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
s found at other reservoirs. Designed in 1935 by
Geoffrey Binnie Geoffrey Morse Binnie FRS FEng (13 November 1908 – 5 April 1989) was a British civil engineer and writer particularly associated with dams and reservoirs. Binnie was the third generation of his family to enter civil engineering (his grandfat ...
of Binnie, Deacon & Gourley, the bellmouth overflow received the Telford Premium Award from the
Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a Charitable organization, charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters ar ...
. The subsidiary 25m high Pineapple Pass Dam consists of earth, rockfill and concrete core.


Fauna

Macaque The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and Europe (in Gibraltar). Macaques are principally f ...
monkeys are common in the area.


Conservation

The gorge dam, the valve tower and the bellmouth overflow are listed as Grade I historic buildings, while the steel bridge of the reservoir is listed as a Grade II historic building. The Memorial Stone of Shing Mun Reservoir was declared as a monument in September 2009. It was part of a batch of 41 pre-World War II waterworks structures located in six reservoir areas, namely Pok Fu Lam Reservoir, Tai Tam Group of Reservoirs, Wong Nai Chung Reservoir,
Kowloon Reservoir Kowloon Reservoir, part of the Kowloon Group of Reservoirs, is a reservoir in Sha Tin District, Hong Kong, located within the Kam Shan Country Park. The total water storage capacity is 353 million gallons and the total cost of construction was ...
, Shing Mun (Jubilee) Reservoir and Aberdeen Reservoir, that were declared at that time. To preserve the natural environment of the reservoir, the surrounding area is managed under Shing Mun Country Park. The Shing Mun Fung Shui Woodland covers about 6 hectares near the northeastern end of the Shing Mun Reservoir. Historically related to the former nearby Tai Wai Village, that was evacuated in 1929, the
woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...
was protected by the villagers in accordance with
feng shui Feng shui ( or ), sometimes called Chinese geomancy, is a traditional form of geomancy that originated in ancient China and claims to use energy forces to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment. The term ''feng shui'' mean ...
traditions. The woodland has been designated as a
Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...
since 1975.


Trails

Two walking trails, Wilson Trail and
MacLehose Trail The MacLehose Trail is a 100-kilometre hiking trail that crosses much of the New Territories, Hong Kong, starting from Pak Tam Chung, Sai Kung District in the east to Tuen Mun Town, Tuen Mun District in the west. It is the longest trail in Hong ...
, cross at the side of the reservoir.


See also

* Lower Shing Mun Reservoir


References


External links

*
Antiquities Advisory Board The Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) is a statutory body of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with the responsibility of advising the Secretary for Development, Antiquities Authority on any matters relating to antiquities and monum ...
. Historic Building Appraisal
Shing Mun (Jubilee) Reservoir, Gorge Dam, Valve Tower, Steel Bridge, Bellmouth Overflow, & Memorial Stone
Pictures
Gorge DamSteel BridgeValve TowerBellmouth Overflow
{{Reservoirs of Hong Kong Reservoirs in Hong Kong Shing Mun Tsuen Wan District Declared monuments of Hong Kong