Mirs Bay

For the bay in Taiwan, see Dapeng Bay.
Mirs Bay
Traditional Chinese大鵬灣
Simplified Chinese大鹏湾
Literal meaningDapeng Bay
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinDàpéng Wān
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingdaai6 paang4 waan1

Mirs Bay (also known as Tai Pang Wan, Dapeng Wan, Dapeng Bay, or Mers Bay; traditional Chinese: 大鵬灣; simplified Chinese: 大鹏湾) is a bay in the northeast of Kat O and Sai Kung Peninsula of Hong Kong.[1] The north and east shores are surrounded by Yantian and Dapeng New District of Shenzhen. Ping Chau stands in the midst of the bay.

History

Pirate junks in Mirs Bay

Mirs Bay, along with other waterways near Hong Kong, was once was home to various coastal defences (e.g. Dapeng Fortress) used against pirates during the Ming Dynasty.[2]

Mirs Bay was used by then American Commodore (later Admiral) George Washington Dewey during the Spanish–American War as a refuge and repair facility for the US Navy.[3]

In 1949, the colonial government imposed a curfew under the Public Order Ordinance forbidding movement of watercraft in Mirs Bay between 10 PM and 6 AM without written permission of the Hong Kong Police Force. The order remains in force after the 1997 handover of Hong Kong. For purposes of the order, the dividing line between Tolo Channel and Mirs Bay runs from Wong Chuk Kok Tsui to Ngo Keng Tsui (鵝頸咀; 22°27′47″N 114°18′08″E / 22.4629544°N 114.3022423°E / 22.4629544; 114.3022423).[4]

Features

Within the bay are numerous smaller harbors and inlets on the Hong Kong side:

The bay includes a number of islands, with an extensive group lying in the northwestern part of the bay, including:[7]

To the south of Mirs Bay, water flows out to the South China Sea.

References

  1. ^ "Mirs Bay, Hong Kong, Admiralty Standard Nautical Chart 4128" (Map). Paper Chart Folio No. 50. 1:30,000. United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO). 25 October 2012.
  2. ^ "Gallery 2: The Ming Period (1368-1644)". Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence. Archived from the original on 5 September 2013.
  3. ^ Watterson, Henry (1898). "The Spanish American war: American blockade of the Philippines". In Bancroft, Hubert H. (ed.). The Great Republic by the Master Historians, Volume IV. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012.
  4. ^ Public Order (Movement of Craft) Order (Cap. 245D)
  5. ^ Lam, Katherine K. Y. (1999). "Hydrography, nutrients and phytoplankton, with special reference to an hypoxic event, at an experimental artificial reef at Hoi Ha Wan, Hong Kong". In Morton, Brian (ed.). Asian Marine Biology 16. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. pp. 35–64, page 36. ISBN 978-962-209-520-5.
  6. ^ Au Yiu-Keung (Au, Aaron); et al. (2003). "Hoi Ha Wan – the Marine Kaleidoscope of Hong Kong" (PDF). Year 2003 Conference on "Sustainable Tourism". Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 December 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  7. ^ Findlay, Alexander G. (1878). A directory for the navigation of the Indian Archipelago, China, and Japan (second ed.). London: R. H. Laurie. pp. 995–998. OCLC 8674578.
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22°34′N 114°22′E / 22.567°N 114.367°E / 22.567; 114.367

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