Hong Kong's Land and Maps
FoundationHong Kong has many hills and little flat land; learn direction, map keys and scale to know the city through maps.
- Maps shrink the land for us with direction, legend and scale.
- Find the north arrow first, check the legend, and use the scale for distance.
- Hong Kong has many hills and little plain, so towers and roads follow the terrain.
文體小知識：說明文用清楚的方法講解知識。這一篇教你讀地圖、看地勢，認識我們生活的香港。
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1Hong Kong lies on the southern coast of China. Although its land area is small, it has mountains, a harbour and many islands. Hills make up most of the land, and tall buildings crowd onto the flat land along the coast. The best tool for understanding Hong Kong is a map.
2The first skill in map reading is direction. Maps usually have north at the top, south at the bottom, west on the left and east on the right. Find the north arrow and you know which way is north. Once you know the direction, you can tell which side of the city the sea is on and which place lies to the east of another — finding your way becomes much easier.
3The small symbols and colours on a map are called the legend. Blue stands for the sea and rivers, green for country parks and grassland, brown for hills, and small black squares for buildings. Once you understand the legend, the map seems to speak, telling us about mountains, roads, schools and hospitals.
4The scale shows how much the map has been shrunk. If the scale is 1:10000, one centimetre on the map stands for 10000 centimetres on the ground, which is 100 metres. Measuring with the scale, we can work out the real distance from school to the park and plan our trips better.
5Because Hong Kong has many hills and little flat land, people have reclaimed land from the sea. Much of the land on both sides of Victoria Harbour was reclaimed. Since flat land is scarce, buildings are tall, roads wind up the slopes, and new towns such as Sha Tin, Tuen Mun and Tseung Kwan O have been built so that more people can live comfortably.
1Summary 重點摘要
Hong Kong has many hills and little flat land; learn direction, map keys and scale to know the city through maps.
2Vocabulary cards Vocabulary
A drawing of a place, shrunk and shown with symbols, that helps us know an area.
Position such as east, south, west and north; maps usually place north at the top.
The list of symbols on a map explaining what each symbol and colour means.
It shows how much the map has been reduced and is used to work out real distances.
Land that rises high with slopes; Hong Kong has many hills.
The deep harbour between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon where ships come and go.
Filling in part of the sea to make new land.
A planned town in the New Territories with housing, shops and community facilities.
The shape of the land, whether high or low, flat or sloping.
3Step by step Steps
- Step 1: Know what maps are forA map shrinks a big area onto paper so we can see mountains, roads and buildings at a glance. Before a hike, reading the map tells us the start, the end and where to rest on the way; when we move house or travel, a map helps us quickly learn an unfamiliar neighbourhood. Country park entrances in Hong Kong have map boards, and reading them makes family hikes safer. Map reading is a very useful life skill and an important geography skill in Humanities.
- Step 2: Learn to find directionThe first step in reading a map is direction. Most maps place north at the top, south at the bottom, west on the left and east on the right, and the north arrow beside the map always points north. Once north is fixed, the other directions follow at once: facing the map, your right is always east and your left is west. In real life, the sun rising in the east also helps us find our way. Knowing direction lets us say which side of Hong Kong Island the harbour is on and describe the way home clearly.
- Step 3: Read the map legendThe symbols and colours on a map are not drawn at random; each has a set meaning, and together they form the legend. Usually blue stands for the sea and rivers, green for country parks, brown for hills, and red or white lines for roads. Always read the legend first and remember the symbols, and the map becomes clear. Just as we must know letters before we can read, we must know the legend before we can read a map and find where the hospitals, beaches and barbecue sites are.
- Step 4: Measure with the scaleThe scale on a map tells us how many times it has been shrunk. With a scale of 1:10000, one centimetre on the map means 10000 centimetres on the ground, which is 100 metres. Measure the distance between two points with a ruler, then enlarge it by the scale, and the real distance appears. This way we can compare which of two parks is nearer home, or estimate how much longer a hike will take. The scale links the paper map with the real world — no map reader can do without it.
- Step 5: Know Hong Kong's terrainHong Kong has many hills and little flat land; mountains and uplands cover most of the territory. Tai Mo Shan is the highest peak, and Lion Rock and Victoria Peak are familiar names. Between the hills lie valleys and narrow plains, and most flat land sits on both sides of Victoria Harbour. From a hilltop we can see tall buildings lined up neatly along the shore and the foot of the slopes — the very shape the terrain has given our city. Climb high at the weekend and you will feel Hong Kong's land at once.
- Step 6: Understand land reclamationBecause flat land was scarce, Hong Kong has reclaimed land from the sea ever since its early days, turning sea into usable ground. Large parts of Central, Wan Chai and Kai Tak were reclaimed; airports, roads and many buildings stand on this new land. Reclamation adds land supply, but it changes the coastline and affects the marine environment, so society often debates how to balance the needs. Knowing about reclamation helps us understand where our land comes from. On the ferry, notice the straight waterfronts on both shores — much of them is reclaimed land.
- Step 7: See how terrain shapes the cityTerrain has shaped how Hong Kong grew. With little flat land, buildings reached for the sky and became high-rises; roads bored tunnels, built flyovers and wound up the slopes. The government also planned new towns in the New Territories, such as Sha Tin, Tuen Mun and Tseung Kwan O, levelling hillsides for housing and community facilities. Next time you ride along a hillside road or look down on the towers, remember it all comes from a city of many hills and little plain — town planning must follow the land.
5Worked example Example
Example: Below is a simple plan of a small district, with north at the top. What direction is the swimming pool from the school? If the scale is 1:2000 and the school-to-pool distance on the plan measures 3 centimetres, what is the real distance? If you were the planner, on what kind of land in the plan would you build a playground?
- Find the north arrow first: with north at the top, the bottom is south, the left is west and the right is east.
- The pool is drawn below and slightly to the right of the school, which is the south-east — so the pool lies to the south-east of the school.
- A scale of 1:2000 means 1 centimetre on the plan equals 2000 centimetres on the ground, that is 20 metres; 3 centimetres make 3 × 20 = 60 metres.
- When planning, flat open land suits a playground; slopes and the shore carry risks of landslides and waves, so they should be avoided.
- Answer: The pool is to the south-east of the school. At a scale of 1:2000, 3 centimetres on the plan stand for 60 metres. As planner, build the playground on flat open land away from slopes and the shore — safe and convenient for residents.
6Common mistakes Mistakes
7Quick check Quick check
Q1How do we find direction on a map?
Q2Where can we look up the meaning of map symbols?
Q3At a scale of 1:10000, what does 1 cm on the map stand for?
Q4What is Hong Kong's terrain like?
Q5What is land reclamation?
8Recap Recap
- Maps shrink the land for us with direction, legend and scale.
- Find the north arrow first, check the legend, and use the scale for distance.
- Hong Kong has many hills and little plain, so towers and roads follow the terrain.
- Reclamation adds land but changes the coast; we must weigh the gains and losses.
- New towns let more people live in the New Territories — planning follows the land.