Hengqin New Area

Hengqin Dao 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.

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 Ilha da Taipa and Ilha de Coloane of Macau, and is connected to Macao'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, Xiao Hengqin () and Da Hengqin (), which were recently connected as a result of land reclamation. The reclaimed island is 96 square km (37 square miles).

History

Both Xiao Hengqin and Da Hengqin were claimed by Portugal, 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." In 1896, Portuguese determined to occupy the two islands of Hengqin, but it was unsuccessful. They were briefly occupied by Portugal before World War II.

Since the land reclamation and development, there has been a...
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