Гонконг аралы: Ап Лей Чау және оның тарихы

Island in Hong Kong

Ap Lei Chau or Aberdeen Island is an island of Hong Kong, located off Hong Kong Island next to Aberdeen Harbour and Aberdeen Channel. It has an area of after land reclamation. Administratively it is part of the Southern District. Ap Lei Chau is one of the most densely populated islands on earth, as well as the most densely populated island with a population of over 10,000. In the 2000s on their website the Guinness World Records called it the world's most densely populated island.

Before the First Opium War, Ap Lei Chau was a small fishing village, with its harbour forming an excellent natural typhoon shelter. The island appears on a Ming era map with its primary settlement labelled "Fragrant Harbour Village". This is the probable origin of the name for Hong Kong, although the town eventually took the name of its island. Under the terms of the 1841 Treaty of Nanking, it was ceded to the British together with Hong Kong Island. It was sometimes known as Taplichan, Taplishan, &c. from an alternative name for the island. The island had a largely uneventful history under British rule. In 1968, Hongkong Electric opened a power station on Ap Lei Chau to provide electricity for the whole of Hong Kong Island. In 1980 and 1994, a bridge was constructed to connect the island to the Hong Kong Island, and this created momentum for rapid economic development. Public housing estates were built to accommodate people, including some who had suffered in a fire in the Aberdeen typhoon shelter. In 1989, the generators of the power station were relocated to Lamma Island, and the old power station is still demolishing to this day. The nearby site was re developed into the South Horizons residential area, with the addition of some land reclaimed from the sea.

The Hung Shing Temple located on Hung Shing Street, off Main Street, Ap Lei Chau, is a notable site. Dating back to 1773, it is the oldest temple in the Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau areas and is a declared monument. The Shui Yuet Temple aka. Kwun Yum Temple is located at No. 181 Main Street, Ap Lei Chau. Dedicated to Kwun Yum, it was built at the end of the 19th century and is a Grade III historic building. The temple site is adjacent to the site of the former Aberdeen Police Station. Clearly chosen for its fung shui, the superior dragons were seen as being protection from the 'threat of the tiger's jaw' from the police station. Although the police station has now been demolished, the dragons are still present and seen as enduring feng shui guards. Apart from Kwun Yum, the temple also houses Kwan Tai, Tin Hau, Chai Kung and Wong Tai Sin.

Ap Lei Chau is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 18. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and Hong Kong Southern District Government
Primary School.

Since Ap Lei Chau is currently the fourth most densely populated island in the world, public space is highly insufficient. In 2016, the Hong Kong Government reallocated the waterfront land of the former Hong Kong Driving School on Lee Nam Road for building luxury apartments, ignoring the suggestion of the locals and intensified the problem of insufficient land use. In February 2017, it was reported that the land, measuring , had been sold by tender for a record price of HK$16.86 billion (US$2.17 billion) to a venture between KWG Property and Logan Property Holdings.