The Wanshan Archipelago (which means Myriad

Myriad

Myriad , "numberlesscountless, infinite", is a classical Greek word for the number 10,000. In modern English, the word refers to an unspecified large quantity.-History and usage:...

 Islands Archipelago), sometimes referred to as the Ladrones Islands (Thieves Islands), is a 104-island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 archipelago

Archipelago

An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

 that is part of Zhuhai

Zhuhai

Zhuhai is a prefecture-level city on the southern coast of Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in the Pearl River Delta, Zhuhai borders Jiangmen to the northwest, Zhongshan to the north, and Macau to the south. Zhuhai was one of the original Special Economic Zones...

 Municipality in Guangdong Province

Guangdong

Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...

 in the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

. Most of its islands are in the Wanshan Marine Development Experimental Zone.

Geography

The islands are situated in the South China Sea

South China Sea

The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...

, to the south of the opening of the Pearl River

Pearl River Delta

The Pearl River Delta , Zhujiang Delta or Zhusanjiao in Guangdong province, People's Republic of China is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea...

 estuary and Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

.

Wanshan Islands also include some islands in Hong Kong and Macau

Macau

Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

, such as Hong Kong Island

Hong Kong Island

Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km², as of 2008...

 and Lantau Island

Lantau Island

Lantau Island , based on the old local name of Lantau Peak , is the largest island in Hong Kong, located at the mouth of the Pearl River. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands District of Hong Kong...

 in Hong Kong, Taipa

Taipa

Taipa is the smaller of the two islands in the Chinese special administrative region of Macao .- Geography :It is 2.5 kilometres from Macau Peninsula and east of the Lesser Hengqin Island of Zhuhai, Guangdong Province...

-Coloane Island in Macau.

The archipelago, as featured on modern maps, includes several groups of islands. On the older European maps, the western group, located south of the Pearl River estuary and Hong Kong's island of Lantao, and including. among others, the Greater Wanshan Island (Da Wanshan Dao), Guishan Dao, Zhizhou Liedao (蜘洲列岛) group, Wai Dangling Dao, Sanmen Liedao (三门列岛) group and Aizhou Liedao (隘洲列岛) groups, was known as the Ladrones Islands (i.e., Thieves Islands, in Spanish or Portuguese). The eastern chain of islands, located south of Hong Kong, was known in the west as Lema Islands; these days, the western half of this chain is known as Pengjia Liedao (蓬佳列岛), while the eastern is Dangan Liedao (担杆列岛).

The largest island, Dangan (担杆), features mountainous terrain similar to Hong Kong.

List of islands

Islands of the archipelgo include:

Dangan Liedao (the eastern group of Wanshan archipelago, and the eastern half of the former Lema Islands chain) - 13.2 square kilometres in area and the largest of the islands; 200 permanent residents

• Dangan Dao
• Erzhou Dao
• Zhiwan Dao
• Xidan Dao (细担岛)

Pengjia Liedao (蓬佳列岛) (the southern group of Wanshan archipelago, and the western half of the former Lema Islands chain)

• Beijian Dao (北尖岛)
• Miaowan Dao - 1.46 kilometres in area with a small population of fishermen. Lighthouse on the island was built by the British in 1884
• Shan Zhou (杉洲)
• Wanzhou Dao (湾洲岛)
• Ping Zhou

Southwestern group, apparently without a general name

• Dawanshan Dao
• Xiaowanshan Dao
• Baili Dao (白沥岛)
• Dong'ao Dao - 4.62 square kilometres in area with population of 500
• Heng Zhou (横洲)
• Zhu zhou (竹洲)
• Gui zhou (贵洲)
• Dalie Dao
• Huangmao (黄茅岛)

Central group, apparently without a general name; located south of Lantau

• Wai Lingding Dao - 3.7 square kilometres in area and a tourist attraction with natural sites and temples
• Sanmen Liedao (三门列岛)
  • Sanmen Dao (三门岛)
  • Yuangang Dao (圆岗岛)
  • Zhuwantou Dao
  • Henggang Dao
• Aizhou Liedao (隘洲列岛)
  • Ai Zhou (隘洲)
  • Ai Zhou Zi (隘洲仔, i.e. "baby Aizhou")

Norhwestern group, apparently without a general name; located between Lantau and Macau

Macau

Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

• Zhizhou Liedao
  • Dazhi Dao
  • Xiaozhi Dao
• Guishan - formerly PLA base from the 1950s
• Zhongxin Zhou
• Niutou Dao (牛头岛)
• Chitou Dao (赤滩岛)
• Sanjiao Dao
• Qing Zhou
• Sanjiao Zhou
• Daliu Dao (大碌岛)
• Datou Dao

Other geographically important points of interest:

• Lema Channel is a major waterway in the archipelgo.
• Dahengqin Dao is an island off Macau and not part of this archipelgo.
• Erzhou, rising to 437.7m above sea level, is the highest point in the archipelago

Population

There is a small local population. mostly in small fishing villages:

• Dan'gan
• Dan'ganwei
• Nacun

Economy

The archipelago's economy is mainly fisheries (crystal prawn, peeler crab). There is a growing tourism industry with a focus on history (Blundbuss Tower is a major attraction on Dong'ao Island), beaches, and the natural beauty of the islands. About 350,000 tourists visit the islands annually.

There is also potential for petroleum extraction in the waters off the islands.

Tourist Sites

• A-Ma Temple on Wanshan
• Floating Cobbles Bay - Wanshan
• Son-Soliciting Springs - Dong'ao
• Wen Tianxiang Park - Guishan
• Monument to the Martyrs of Guishan Warship - Guishan
• Xiafeng Bay - Miaowan
• Dan'gan Village - Dan'gan

Transportation

• Ferry service from Zhuhai
  Zhuhai
  Zhuhai is a prefecture-level city on the southern coast of Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in the Pearl River Delta, Zhuhai borders Jiangmen to the northwest, Zhongshan to the north, and Macau to the south. Zhuhai was one of the original Special Economic Zones...
  
  to Guishan, Wai Lingding, Dan'gan, Dong'ao and Wanshan
• Fast/Slow Ferry service to Guishan, Wai Lingding, Xiangzhou
• Sightseeing Ferryboats from Zhuhai

Sources

• Aerial image of the islands (Google map)
• Wanshan Qundao
• Enjoying sunlight and sea in Zhuhai Islands
• The Atlas of Guangdong (广东省), published by 星珠地图出版社 (Xingzhu Ditu Chubanshe), 2007. ISBN 978-7-80212-086-0.