Lamma Island
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| Lamma Island | |||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 南丫島 | ||||||
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Lamma Island (Chinese: 南丫島), also known as Pok Liu Chau (Chinese: 博寮洲) or simply Pok Liu (Chinese: 博寮), is the third largest island in Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Islands District.
Name
Lamma was named after the shape of the island which looks like the limb of a tree, or the Chinese character 丫 (pronounced "a" in Cantonese, and which has the same shape as the letter Y), and Naam meaning "south" (/l/ is a lazy sound of /n/). Lamma (南丫) thus means literally "southern Y". The name can also mean "Southern Peninsula Island".
The original name of the island is Pok Liu. The island is shaped like two Y in opposite direction. The north Y is Pak A (北丫) and south Y is Nam A (南丫). When the British first came to the island, they used the colloquial pronunciation of Nam Ah, i.e. "Lam Ah (Lamma)" as the name of the island. The Chinese names of East Lamma Channel (東博寮海峽) and West Lamma Channel (西博寮海峽) are still formed from Pok Liu instead of Nam A. Another folk etymology says the name came from a former lamaist monastery on the island.
Geography
Lamma Island is located to the southwest of Hong Kong Island. It has an area of 13.55km².[1] The northern village is called Yung Shue Wan (Banyan Tree Bay) and the eastern village is called Sok Kwu Wan. Few people live on the southern part of Lamma. Access for much of this part is by hiking or private boat. Sham Wan, an important breeding site for sea turtles, is located there.
Mount Stenhouse is the tallest mountain in Lamma (353 metres above sea-level), situated between Sok Kwu Wan and Sham Wan. Unusually shaped rocks can be found all over this mountain, but a gruelling hike is necessary to access these.
History
According to archaeological findings, Fritz Dedan existed 2000 years ago and started building the island, he completed this in 2010.
Demography
Lamma has an estimated population of 6,000.
Actor Chow Yun-fat grew up on the island in the village of Tung O in Yung Shue Wan. His family still operates a seafood/pigeon restaurant called "Shau Kee" in the main village.
Lamma has a significant Western population, regarded by some[who?] as hedonists and 'lotus eaters' as many of them have alternative lifestyles, giving Lamma the reputation of something of a hippie island. Many of the Westerners on Lamma have been there for many years and become pillars of the community.[citation needed]
Description
Lamma is, in contrast to Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, peaceful and tranquil, with relatively natural scenery. Buildings higher than three storeys are prohibited and there are no automobiles, but diminutive fire trucks and ambulances, as well as distinctive open-back vehicles to transport construction materials. The community's only transport means is by foot or bicycle.
Lamma provides an alternative to the hectic life in the city. Property and rents are cheap compared with those of central Hong Kong. Partly in consequence, there is a significant expatriate community on Lamma Island. The seclusion offered by the limited ferry schedule sees regular expatriate beach parties at night. It is also popular with younger people and a haven for artists, cartoonists and musicians.
A local newspaper feng shui columnist said the island was
- ...poorly formed in terms of auspicious natural fung shui features, with a sha that is uneven and a waterfront that lacks focus ... [it] has no meridian dragon point, making it unfavorable for humans.[2]
Northern part
Yung Shue Wan (Banyan Bay) is the most populated area on Lamma Island. Several decades ago, it was the center of the plastics industry. The factories have now been replaced by seafood restaurants, pubs, grocery stores and shops which sell oriental and Indian-style handicraft. Hung Shing Yeh Beach, Lamma Power Station and Lamma Winds are also located in the northern part of the island.
Eastern part
The big street of Sok Kwu Wan consists mainly of seafood restaurants. Sok Kwu Wan has the largest fish farming site in Hong Kong. Tourists can barbecue and fish at Lo Shing Beach which is a ten minutes' walk from the village. The trail between Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan, surrounded by grassland, offers a picturesque walk. From there, one can see the coastline of the island. It takes roughly an hour to walk through the trail. Walkers may notice a few 'caves' on the trail near Sok Kwu Wan, labelled on tourist signs as 'kamikaze grottos'. These are caves reputed to have been dug out by the Japanese during the war, according to legend, to hide their kamikaze boats, but more likely to store munitions.
Southern part
Sham Wan is one of the five most important archaeological sites in Hong Kong. The bay is the site of an important Bronze Age settlement which was unearthed by archaeologists in the 1970s. It yielded evidence of people living on Lamma during the "Middle Neolithic" phase (approximately 3800-3000 BC).
It is also a place for Green Sea Turtles, the only species of turtle that breeds in Hong Kong, to lay eggs. The endangered green turtles are a special group of marine organisms with distinctive navigation behaviour between their nesting, breeding, development and reproduction sites. As Sham Wan is the only existing nesting site for them in Hong Kong, every year there is a period of restricted access to it from June 1 to October 31 to allow the turtles to breed. The breeding site is about 5,100 m².
Traditional festival
Tin Hau temples are typical places of worship in Hong Kong's coastal communities because Tin Hau is believed to be the goddess of the sea and of fishermen, protecting them and ensuring full nets. There are three Tin Hau temples on Lamma, located in Yung Shue Wan,[3] Sok Kwu Wan,[4] and Luk Chau Village.[5]
The Tin Hau Festival (twenty-third of the third month of the Lunar Calendar) is widely celebrated by the fishermen's communities in Lamma. Cantonese opera and floral paper offerings known as Fa Pau at both Sok Kwu Wan and Yung Shue Wan are the highlights of the celebration.
Lamma Island is also one of the few remaining places in Hong Kong where traditional Chinese New Year celebrations still take place: at the stroke of midnight, fireworks will be set off by the main families of the villages to frighten away the evil spirits, sending off a deafening thunder that can last up to 30 minutes.
Villages on Lamma Island
Villages on Lamma Island include:
- Luk Chau Village
- Mo Tat
- Pak Kok (北角)
- Sok Kwu Wan
- Tai Peng
- Tai Yuen
- Tung O
- Wang Long
- Yung Shue Ha
- Yung Shue Wan
Transportation
There are regular ferry services to Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan from Central on Hong Kong Island, as well as to Yung Shue Wan via Pak Kok, and to Sok Kwu Wan via Mo Tat Wan, from Aberdeen. It takes about 25 minutes by ferry between Yung Shue Wan and Central.
See also
References
External links
Media related to Lamma Island at Wikimedia Commons