Abstract
Hong Kong island is located in Southern China at the mouth of the Pearl River. Its coastal location down river from the significant port-city of Guangzhou (formerly Canton), is strategically located in the trade route known as the Maritime Silk Road, the 2,000-year-old trade between China, Southeast Asia, India and Arabia. It was because of this trade that the waters and islands at the Pearl River mouth were frequented by many nations, and where the Portuguese had their port-city, Macau from 1557, and the British were based on Hong Kong island from 1842. Over the next 60 years, the British leased further surrounding territories and the arrangement eventually led to the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, hereafter called the Hong Kong region. A significant maritime cultural landscape was built up, which included sites from earlier periods. An example of this maritime cultural landscape can be seen in the Sai Kung (eastern) district of the Hong Kong region. Many ships travelled along this coastline between the northern China ports and Guangzhou, and a number of coastal facilities were established. Beginning in 2009, a group of Hong Kong residents (Hong Kong Underwater Heritage Group) implemented a series of maritime archaeological projects in the Sai Kung district in collaboration with the Hong Kong Maritime Museum (HKMM). The results of this work can be seen in three maritime archaeology survey and excavation projects implemented from 2014 to 2017, including the discovery of a 1,000-year-old underwater cultural heritage (UCH) site. They complement the many coastal cultural heritage in the Sai Kung district to reveal its maritime cultural landscape.
Highlights
Few expect Hong Kong, a global financial hub, to have a rich trove of maritime cultural heritage
Together with the still active use of the Sai Kung coastline and adjacent ocean by boat dwellers and fishers, and the various ports they created and maintained, the Sai Kung district is an excellent representation of the maritime cultural landscape for much of Hong Kong, which has disappeared in many regions through massive coastal reclamation and development
The Sai Kung district of Hong Kong has an extensive and significant maritime cultural landscape that can be seen in the many tangible cultural heritage sites, such as underwater cultural heritage (UCH) sites, rock carvings, temples, ports, markets, forts, the living heritage encompassing the Tin Hau ceremonies, and the cultural practices of Hong Kong’s boat dwellers and fishers
Summary
Few expect Hong Kong, a global financial hub, to have a rich trove of maritime cultural heritage. The only ancient shipwreck found in Hong Kong, dated from the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), called the Sha Tsui wreck, is located in the Sai Kung district, found when High Island Bay was reclaimed and turned into a reservoir. Beginning in 2009, the HKUHG (Hong Kong Underwater Heritage Group) began to document Hong Kong’s maritime cultural landscape in the Sai Kung district This led to three major projects being carried out from 2014 to 2017 at a site off Town Island, and two other sites at High Island and Basalt Island. The underwater archaeological site became known following oral history research with a number of Hong Kong scuba divers It is located in about 4 to 5 m of water, on a sandy-silty seabed, in the bay at the northern end of the island.
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