Tolo Harbour, or Tai Po Hoi (, historically ) is a sheltered

harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

in northeast

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 ...

of Hong Kong.

Geography

Tide Cove aka. Sha Tin Hoi is to the south of the harbour, and

Plover Cove Plovers ( , ) are a widely distributed group of wading birds belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae. Description There are about 66 species in the subfamily, most of them called "plover" or " dotterel". The closely related lapwing sub ...

, Three Fathoms Cove and Tolo Channel are to its east. The Shing Mun River empties first into Tide Cove, then the harbour. Several islands are located in the harbour, including Ma Shi Chau, Centre Island, Yeung Chau and Yim Tin Tsai. Yuen Chau Tsai is a former island, now connected to the mainland by a causeway.

History

In the past

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium ca ...

s were very abundant here.

Pearl hunting Pearl hunting, also known as pearling, is the activity of recovering pearls from wild molluscs, usually oysters or mussels, in the sea or freshwater. Pearl hunting was prevalent in the Persian Gulf region and Japan for thousands of years. On th ...

had been a major industry in

Tai Po Tai Po is an area in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It refers to the vicinity of the traditional market towns in the area presently known as Tai Po Old Market or Tai Po Kau Hui () (the original "Tai Po Market") on the north of Lam Tsu ...

from

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

. In

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen concu ...

, a king of Southern Han changed the name of Tai Po to Mei Chuen To () and ordered an aggressive cultivation effort, which led to many fatalities amongst the pearl hunters. The hunting lasted until the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

, when the pearl oysters were nearly extinct in the area.

Transportation

Kowloon–Canton Railway The Kowloon–Canton Railway (KCR; ) was a railway network in Hong Kong.Legislative Council information paper CB(1)357/07-08(0 THB(T) CR 8/986/00, CB(1)1749/07-08(0/ref> It was owned and operated by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC ...

was built in 1910s and Tolo Highway in 1980s on its western shore.

References

External links

大埔的珠池 (Standard Chinese)

Satellite view of the harbour and Tide Cove (centre), and Plover Cove, Three Fathoms Cove and the Tolo Channel (right)
Ports and harbours of Hong Kong {{HongKong-geo-stub

Geography

History

Transportation

See also

References

External links