Considering Ma Wan’s ancient past? Ma Wan, also known as Ma’s Bay, boasts a rich history. The British first noted it in 1794 calling it Cowhee or Toong-Shing-Ow-A.
Human settlement on Ma Wan dates back to around 4500 BP. Archaeological digs found remains from the mid-Neolithic to the early Bronze Age. Historical records show occupation from the Han through Tang Dynasties. Records from the Tang to Qing Dynasties are less common.
In 1794, Alexander Dalrymple and Lt Henry William Parish surveyed Ma Wan. They were on the HMS Jackall, the smallest ship in the Macartney Embassy. They found a small population and tiny settlements like today’s Ma Wan and Tin Liu villages.
Locals believe the present settlements began around 250 years ago in the mid-18th century. Any settlements from the late Ming Dynasty likely vanished during the early Qing Dynasty’s Great Clearance around 1661-1669. The coast was cleared for 32 km inland. Around 16,000 people from Xin’an County, including Hong Kong and Shenzhen, were displaced. Only about 1,650 people returned in 1669. Ma Wan’s repopulation was slow because the island isn’t very fertile. It is only about 2.6 square kilometers.
The name Ma Wan is likely old. The character “Ma” is common in southern Chinese coastal place names. It appears in three traditional characters. One theory says it means “Ma people found here.” It may link to Mazu, also known as Tin Hau, a sea goddess. This harmonizes sea goddess beliefs along China’s coast.
Ma Wan controls key points between Hong Kong and Guangzhou. These are the Throat Gates Kap Shui Man and Kai Tap Mun or Kai Tsap Mun. Today, this is the Ma Wan Channel. In the 1860s, efforts to stop opium smuggling led to a Provincial likin station in 1868 or 1871. It became a Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs station CIMCS. Along with stations in Kowloon City and Junk Island, Hong Kong saw this as a blockade. This issue continued until the Chefoo Convention of 1880.
The customs station remained until the New Territories lease in 1898. It closed in October 1898 when the British took over the island. Steles near the old village committee offices mark the CIMCS’s arrival and departure.
Other Ma Wan sights include the old Tin Hau Temple with its plaques and black Tin Hau effigy. See the dragon boats waiting for June. Discover the Mui Wai marker stone absorbed by a banyan tree. It may represent a link to Lantau’s Mui Wo. Explore the CIMCS building ruins and blue-grey brick walls. Don’t miss the overlooked 1904 Kap Shui Man Pass lighthouse. It was the fourth lighthouse in Hong Kong waters.
Ma Wan village was emptied in 2011 after the Park Island development in 2006. A soulless replacement village was built inland blocked from breezes. Villagers were moved there not all willingly. The old village now decays behind fences with “Keep Out. Government Land” signs. Some villagers return to visit their old homes and the Tin Hau Temple.