Hengqin

Hengqin 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. Parts of Hengqin are leased to Macau by the State Council of the People's Republic of China in 2009.

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 Taipa and Coloane of Macau with the Shisanmen Waterway in between, 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, Xiaohengqin (Portuguese: Dom João) and Dahengqin (Portuguese: Montanha), which were recently connected as a result of land reclamation. The reclaimed island is 96 km² (37 sq mi) large.

History

Portugal claimed both Xiao Hengqin and Da Hengqin, 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".^[1] In 1896, Portuguese determined to occupy the two islands of Hengqin, but did not succeed in doing so. Portugal briefly occupied them before World War II.^[2]

Since the land reclamation and development, there has been a growing opinion in Macau that the island should be leased to Macau, which has very limited land and 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 multibillion-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.^[3][4]

On 27 June 2009 the government of Macau officially announced that the University of Macau would 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 would be the first of other possible projects. Construction of the campus would take three years^[5] and would include an underwater tunnel. Macau law would apply in the university campus and it would not be necessary to pass a formal border post.^[6] The Macau Special Administrative Region will pay an amount of rent - which has not yet been set - for the use of the land.

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 10 billion yuan) kicked off the construction on Hengqin Island and was originally expected to become operational in 2013.

The Chime-Long Ocean Kingdom, consisting of entertainment facilities, amusement rides, performances, high-tech experiences and animal watching as well as the dolphin-themed hotel with 1,888 guest rooms was opened in 2014.

See also

• Hengqin Bridge

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hengqin Island.

• Hengqin Guide - News, Events and Information on the New Hengqin Area
• 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

Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (Freguesias of Macau)
Freguesias	Macau Peninsula N. Sra. de Fátima Sto. António S. Lázaro Sé S. Lourenço Taipa and Coloane N. Sra. do Carmo S. Francisco Xavier
Other zones	Cotai Macau New Urban Zone University of Macau Hengqin
Defunct subdivisions	Municipality of Macau Municipality of das Ilhas
Defunct territories	Lapa, Dom João, and Montanha
Note: The freguesias are purely symbolic there are no political administrative subdivisions in Macau after the formation of Instituto para os Assuntos Cívicos e Municipais in 2002.

Pearl River Delta Region
Pearl River Delta Economic Zone
Guangdong Province	Guangzhou Panyu Huadu Nansha Zengcheng Conghua Shenzhen Bao'an Zhuhai Hengqin Dongguan Zhongshan Cuiheng Foshan Jiangmen Enping Taishan Kaiping Heshan Huizhou Zhaoqing Sihui Gaoyao
Special administrative regions	Hong Kong New Territories Kowloon Hong Kong Island  Macau Macau Peninsula Taipa Coloane Cotai

Portuguese overseas empire
North Africa 15th century 1415–1640 Ceuta 1458–1550 Alcácer Ceguer (El Qsar es Seghir) 1471–1550 Arzila (Asilah) 1471–1662 Tangier 1485–1550 Mazagan (El Jadida) 1487–16th century Ouadane 1488–1541 Safim (Safi) 1489 Graciosa 16th century 1505–1541 Santa Cruz do Cabo de Gué (Agadir) 1506–1525 Mogador (Essaouira) 1506–1525 Aguz (Souira Guedima) 1506–1769 Mazagan (El Jadida) 1513–1541 Azamor (Azemmour) 1515–1541 São João da Mamora (Mehdya) 1577–1589 Arzila (Asilah)
Sub-Saharan Africa 15th century 1455–1633 Anguim 1462–1975 Cape Verde 1470–1975 São Tomé1 1471–1975 Príncipe1 1474–1778 Annobón 1478–1778 Fernando Poo (Bioko) 1482–1637 Elmina (São Jorge da Mina) 1482–1642 Portuguese Gold Coast 1508–15472 Madagascar3 1498–1540 Mascarene Islands 16th century 1500–1630 Malindi 1501–1975 Portuguese Mozambique 1502–1659 Saint Helena 1503–1698 Zanzibar 1505–1512 Quíloa (Kilwa) 1506–1511 Socotra 1557–1578 Accra 1575–1975 Portuguese Angola 1588–1974 Cacheu4 1593–1698 Mombassa (Mombasa) 17th century 1645–1888 Ziguinchor 1680–1961 São João Baptista de Ajudá 1687–1974 Bissau4 18th century 1728–1729 Mombassa (Mombasa) 1753–1975 Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe 19th century 1879–1974 Portuguese Guinea 1885–1975 Portuguese Congo 1 Part of São Tomé and Príncipe from 1753. 2 Or 1600. 3 A factory (Anosy Region) and small temporary coastal bases. 4 Part of Portuguese Guinea from 1879.
Middle East [Persian Gulf] 16th century 1506–1615 Gamru (Bandar Abbas) 1507–1643 Sohar 1515–1622 Hormuz (Ormus) 1515–1648 Quriyat 1515–? Qalhat 1515–1650 Muscat 1515?–? Barka 1515–1633? Julfar (Ras al-Khaimah) 1521–1602 Bahrain (Muharraq • Manama) 1521–1529? Qatif 1521?–1551? Tarut Island 1550–1551 Qatif 1588–1648 Matrah 17th century 1620–? Khor Fakkan 1621?–? As Sib 1621–1622 Qeshm 1623–? Khasab 1623–? Libedia 1624–? Kalba 1624–? Madha 1624–1648 Dibba Al-Hisn 1624?–? Bandar-e Kong
Indian subcontinent 15th century 1498–1545 Laccadive Islands (Lakshadweep) 16th century Portuguese India  • 1500–1663 Cochim (Kochi)  • 1501–1663 Cannanore (Kannur)  • 1502–1658  1659–1661 Quilon (Coulão / Kollam)  • 1502–1661 Pallipuram (Cochin de Cima)  • 1507–1657 Negapatam (Nagapatnam)  • 1510–1961 Goa  • 1512–1525  1750 Calicut (Kozhikode)  • 1518–1619 Portuguese Paliacate outpost (Pulicat)  • 1521–1740 Chaul   (Portuguese India)  • 1523–1662 Mylapore  • 1528–1666 Chittagong (Porto Grande De Bengala)  • 1531–1571 Chaul  • 1531–1571 Chalé  • 1534–1601 Salsette Island  • 1534–1661 Bombay (Mumbai)  • 1535 Ponnani  • 1535–1739 Baçaím (Vasai-Virar)  • 1536–1662 Cranganore (Kodungallur)  • 1540–1612 Surat  • 1548–1658 Tuticorin (Thoothukudi)  • 1559–1961 Daman and Diu  • 1568–1659 Mangalore   (Portuguese India)  • 1579–1632 Hugli  • 1598–1610 Masulipatnam (Machilipatnam) 1518–1521 Maldives 1518–1658 Portuguese Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1558–1573 Maldives 17th century Portuguese India  • 1687–1749 Mylapore 18th century Portuguese India  • 1779–1954 Dadra and Nagar Haveli
East Asia and Oceania 16th century 1511–1641 Portuguese Malacca [Malaysia] 1512–1621 Maluku [Indonesia]  • 1522–1575  Ternate  • 1576–1605  Ambon  • 1578–1650  Tidore 1512–1665 Makassar 1537–1999 Macau [China] 1571–1639 Decima (Dejima / Nagasaki) [Japan] 17th century 1642–1975 Portuguese Timor (East Timor)1 19th century Portuguese Macau  • 1864–1999 Coloane  • 1851–1999 Taipa  • 1890–1999 Ilha Verde 20th century Portuguese Macau  • 1938–1941 Lapa and Montanha (Hengqin) 1 1975 is the year of East Timor's Declaration of Independence and subsequent invasion by Indonesia. In 2002, East Timor's independence was fully recognized.
North America & North Atlantic 15th century [Atlantic islands] 1420 Madeira 1432 Azores 16th century [Canada] 1500–1579? Terra Nova (Newfoundland) 1500–1579? Labrador 1516–1579? Nova Scotia
South America & Antilles 16th century 1500–1822 Brazil  • 1534–1549  Captaincy Colonies of Brazil  • 1549–1572  Brazil  • 1572–1578  Bahia  • 1572–1578  Rio de Janeiro  • 1578–1607  Brazil  • 1621–1815  Brazil 1536–1620 Barbados 17th century 1621–1751 Maranhão 1680–1777 Nova Colónia do Sacramento 18th century 1751–1772 Grão-Pará and Maranhão 1772–1775 Grão-Pará and Rio Negro 1772–1775 Maranhão and Piauí 19th century 1808–1822 Cisplatina (Uruguay) 1809–1817 Portuguese Guiana (Amapá) 1822 Upper Peru (Bolivia)
Coats of arms of Portuguese colonies Evolution of the Portuguese Empire Portuguese colonial architecture Portuguese colonialism in Indonesia Portuguese colonization of the Americas Theory of the Portuguese discovery of Australia

Coordinates: 22°07′12″N 113°30′36″E / 22.1200°N 113.5101°E / 22.1200; 113.5101