The little island that could have been Hong Kong, but for a British army officer’s bad weather day 230 years ago

In 1794 a British naval party landed on Ma Wan, off Lantau, to see if it might become the British Empire’s trading base in southern China. But it was a rainy day

The officer in charge did not see its sheltered anchorage and so, half a century later, it was on Hong Kong Island that the British planted their flag instead

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Ma Wan, an island between Lantau and Tsing Yi in Hong Kong, is best known today for the Park Island residential development. Photo: Martin Chan

Published: 7:15am, 21 Mar 2022Updated: 5:40pm, 21 Mar 2022

Even with international travel restricted, Ma Wan is not a place many people in Hong Kong visit, but this tiny, obscure island could have been known around the world.

Nearly 230 years ago, British officials considered claiming Ma Wan for their main trading settlement in southern China and sent a party to investigate its potential.

Records reveal that if it hadn’t been for some horrible weather, Hong Kong might never have been “Hong Kong” – it would have been Ma Wan, sandwiched between the northeastern coast of Lantau and Tsing Yi.

Instead, history dictated that Ma Wan is now known mostly for the Park Island high-rise residential complex and the Noah’s Ark religious theme park.

In February, 1794, Lieutenant Henry William Parish was dispatched from Macau – a Portuguese enclave in southern China since the 16th century – in a small, ten-gun sailing brig called HMS Jackall, to explore the island of Ma Wan, which the British called Cow-hee. He was ordered to report on its potential as a base for British ships trading with Canton (Guangzhou).