Hengqin New Area

Hengqin New Area
Hengqin Island in the back of Ponte de Sai Van
Traditional Chinese	橫琴新區
Simplified Chinese	横琴新区
Literal meaning	Horizontal Qin
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Héngqín Xīn Qū Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping waang4 kum4 san1 keoi1 - IPA [wȁːŋ kʰɐ̏m]

Hengqin Dao is an island in Zhuhai, a prefecture-level city and Special Economic Zone in the Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China. It has a population of about 3,000.

The whole island is designated a special economic district, as Hengqin New Area, similar to Binhai New Area in Tianjin and Pudong New Area in Shanghai.

Geography

Hengqin Island is adjacent to Ilha da Taipa and Ilha de Coloane of Macau, and is connected to Macau's Cotai via the Lotus Bridge. The island is the largest among the 146 islands of Zhuhai, being roughly three times the size of Macau. It has broad bays, sandy beaches, strangely shaped jagged rocks, beautiful scenery, fresh air, and natural vegetation cover.

Hengqin was formerly made up of two islands, Xiao Hengqin (Portuguese: D. João) and Da Hengqin (Portuguese: Montanha), which were recently connected as a result of land reclamation. The reclaimed island is 96 square km (37 square miles).

History

Both Xiao Hengqin and Da Hengqin were claimed by Portugal, along with the larger former island of Wanzai (Portuguese: Lapa) — now a peninsula — to their north, as part of the Província da Macau, because "Portuguese schools are established there." In 1896, Portuguese determined to occupy the two islands of Hengqin, but it was unsuccessful. They were briefly occupied by Portugal before World War II.

Since the land reclamation and development, there has been a growing opinion in Macau that the island should be leased to Macau, where land is very limited and there is little room for further development. By 1 September 2005, plans were revealed that the government of Guangdong will allow tax exemptions and adopt flexible immigration control in Hengqin to promote investment from Hong Kong and Macau.

In late 2005, Las Vegas Sands openly discussed its multi-billion dollar plan to develop parts of Hengqin Island into a convention and resort destination. The project was to include four million sq ft of convention space, hotels, retail, vacation homes, and golf, tennis and yachting amenities.

On 27 June 2009 it was officially announced by the government of Macau that the University of Macau will build its new campus on 1 km² of the island, in a stretch directly facing the Cotai area, south of the current border post. This is the first of other possible projects. Construction of the campus shall take three years and is slated to include an underwater tunnel.^{[citation needed]} Macau law will apply in the university campus and it will not be necessary to pass a formal border post. The Macau Special Administrative Region will pay an amount of rent which has not yet been set for the use of the land.^{[citation needed]}

Subdistricts of Hengqin New Area

A map of Hengqin New Area divided in 6 subdistricts

• Northwestern Zone - reserved for environmentally friendly development projects
• Northern Zone - A Bridge and main entrance between Central Zhuhai and Hengqin New Area
• Northeastern Exhibition Zone - development of an exhibition center and hotels
• Central Channel - develop as a leisure and recreational theme park
• Eastern Residential and Commercial Zone - codevelopment of PRC and Macau projects such as University of Macau's new campus
• Southern Tourist Zone - A future tourism attraction which is further divided into seven sub-zones
  • Theme Park Area
  • Seaside Hotel Area
  • Natural Tourist Area
  • Scenic Area
  • Water Activities Area
  • Seaside Holiday Resort Area
  • Golf Course Holiday Resort Area

On 29 November 2010, the main body of the Chime-Long International Ocean Resort with an initial investment of RMB 10 billion has kicked off the construction on Hengqin Island and is expected to become operational in 2013.

Also breaking ground is the “Ocean Kingdom” project which consisting of entertainment, amusement rides, performances, high-tech experiences and animal watching as well as the dolphin-themed hotel with 1,888 guest rooms. Plans indicate that the ocean resort will cover Fuxiang Bay, Hengqin Hill and Dolphin Bay, with a total investment of over RMB 20 billion.

The entire project will be constructed in two phases. The first phase of RMB 10 billion mainly involves the facilities in Fuxiang Bay and is due to become operational in about two years’ time. The "Ocean Kingdom" is regarded as a "super theme park" with independent intellectual property rights. It is divided into eight theme zones, each of them consisting of the three main components of amusement designs, performances and animal watching.

The park will also house a night zoo, water world, the world’s highest ferris wheel, the longest wooden roller coaster as well as an advanced theatre.

The dolphin-themed hotel after completion is set to become the largest ecological-themed hotel in mainland China. It is expected that more than 20 million visitors from around the world will be attracted to the ocean resort after it is fully operational.

External links

• Hengqin New Area official website
• Hengqin.com: news and resources, mostly in Simplified Chinese
• Edmonds, Richard Louis, "Macau in the Pearl River Delta and Beyond", China Perspectives, no. 44, November-December 2002
• Satellite image by Google Maps