Tseung Kwan O - Name

Name

In Cantonese, Tseung Kwan (將軍) means the "General" of an army, and O (澳) means "bay". Therefore, Tseung Kwan O literally means "General's Bay".

The exact origin of the name Tseung Kwan O is unknown, but it is said to be named in honour of a Ming Dynasty general who visited Tseung Kwan O at some point. Another theory is that the name was chosen in the 17th century, when naval battles were fought against pirates from Japan at Tseung Kwan O. Yet another theory is that the pronunciation of "將軍" can sound like "Junk Wan" to the ears of English speakers; wan is also a transliteration of the Chinese word for "bay" (灣).

The current town center of Tseung Kwan O stands on reclaimed land. The English name Junk Bay was said to be derived from the existence of junks in the bay, and the reclamation land based on the landfill. The first landfill was opened in 1978, decades after Junk Bay was named. The Fat Tong Chau (Junk Island) is in the southeastern part of the bay.

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