Mianhua Islet
Native name:
棉花嶼
Mianhua Islet and Pingfong Rock in the East China Sea
Mianhua Islet is located in East China Sea
Mianhua Islet
Mianhua Islet
Location in the East China Sea
Geography
LocationIn the East China Sea, north of Taiwan Island in Zhongzheng, Keelung, Taiwan[1][2][3][4]
Coordinates25°29′06″N 122°6′23″E / 25.48500°N 122.10639°E / 25.48500; 122.10639
Area0.133 km2 (0.051 sq mi)[5][3]
Highest elevation61 m (200 ft)[3]
Administration
ProvinceTaiwan (streamlined)
Provincial cityKeelung
DistrictZhongzheng
Additional information
Time zone
Mianhua Islet is located in Taiwan
Mianhua Islet
Mianhua Islet
Location of Mianhua Islet
Map of Mianhua Islet (labeled as MENKA-SHO; NAKANO-SHIMA) and surrounding area (AMS, 1944)
Mianhua Islet (labeled as Mien-hua Hsü (Menka-sho) 棉花嶼) (AMS, 1950)

Mianhua Islet (Chinese: 棉花嶼; pinyin: Miánhuā Yǔ; lit. 'cotton islet') is a 0.133 km2 (0.051 sq mi)[5][3] volcanic island[5] in Zhongzheng District, Keelung, Taiwan, located in the East China Sea.[3][6] Pingfong Rock, just east of the islet, is the easternmost point under the actual control of Taiwan (ROC).[7][5]

Name

Mianhua Islet (Chinese: 棉花嶼; pinyin: Miánhuā Yǔ; lit. 'cotton islet') is also known as Kangjiao Islet, Jhongdao (Midway Islet),[3] Mien-hua Hsü, Menka-sho,[8] Mienhua Yu,[9] and Craig Island.[10]

History

In his 1868 book Rambles of a Naturalist on the Shores and Waters of the China Sea, Cuthbert Collingwood (naturalist) described Mianhua Islet, its birds and insects, its geology and two people on the island who were collecting bird eggs.[11]

In his 1895 book From Far Formosa, George Leslie Mackay briefly described Mianhua Islet:[12]: 184 

Craig is also unfit for man's abode, but was surely heaved up to be the home of the seafaring birds that gather there in flocks that at times literally darken the sky. On one side the island is a rugged and perpendicular wall of rock two hundred feet high. From that side it slopes down to the water's edge, forming a surface of two or three acres, which is smooth, without trees or shrubs, but completely covered with soft grass, in which the birds lay their eggs without making any kind of nest. I discovered twelve different kinds of grasses, but no flowers. Insects, including the dreaded centipede and several species of beetle, abounded. But the characteristic of this island is its bird-life. Gulls and terns gather there in millions. As they return homeward they hover over the island for a little, and then settle down like a wide-spreading mantle of wings. The whole sloping surface is covered, and the sight is worth the voyage to see.

Mackay also described the collection of birds and bird eggs by people from Pengjia Islet.[12]: 184–85 

In 1994, plans for a scenic area including Mianhua Islet were proposed. These plans met with opposition from conservation groups who argued that the natural environment of the islet would be damaged by the creation of a scenic area. From May to September, seven scientific expeditions documenting the birds, geology, plants, insects, amphibians and reptiles of the islet were carried out, and an application to the Environmental Protection Administration to preserve Mianhua Islet and Huaping Islet as a Level One Ecologically Sensitive Area and Pengjia Islet as a Level Two Ecologically Sensitive Area was made.[5]

On March 18, 1996, the Mianhua Islet and Huaping Islet Wildlife Preservation Area (棉花嶼、花瓶嶼野生動物保護區) was established.[5]

In August 1996, the existing population of sheep on the islet was relocated to Taiwan to help restore the natural environment of the islet.[5]

Geography

The islet is about 800 m (2,600 ft) long from north to south and 530 m (1,740 ft) wide from east to west, with an elevation of 61 m (200 ft).[3] The 25 m (82 ft) tall rock reef to the east of the islet is called Pingfong Rock (screen rock;[3] 屏風岩[5]). Along with the nearby Pengjia Islet and Huaping Islet, Mianhua Islet is considered of strategic importance to Taiwan.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 今日中正 [Today's Zhongzheng]. 基隆市中正區公所. Retrieved 23 April 2019. 3.本區北面面臨太平洋，並包括有和平島、彭佳嶼、基隆嶼、棉花嶼、花瓶嶼等島嶼自然地理景觀豐富
  2. ↑ 基隆市土地段名代碼表 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Department of Land Administration. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2019. 基隆市土地段名代碼表 地政事務所名稱(代碼) 信義(CB) 鄉鎮市區名稱(代碼) 中正區(01){...}段 小段 代碼 備註{...}棉花嶼 0127
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Beautiful Scenery". Keelung City Government. Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2019. Mianhua Islet (Crag) Located at 120.6" east and 25.29"north, the 0.12-square-kilometer Mianhua Islet is 42.9992km away from Bitou Cape. It is about 800km long from north to south and 530km wide from east to west, with an elevation of 61km.{...}According to literature, Mianhua Islet is called Kangjiao Islet, and also Jhongdao (Midway Islet).
  4. 1 2 "Pengjia Islet gets rare attention from Ma's visit". GlobalSecurity.org. 7 September 2012. The normally obscure outcrop, which falls administratively under Keelung City, is one of three islets off of Taiwan's northern coast -- the others are Mianhua Islet and Huaping Islet -- considered to be of strategic importance to the country.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 棉花嶼、花瓶嶼野生動物保護區. Forestry Bureau (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 17 January 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019. 棉花嶼、花瓶嶼為各自獨立於基隆外海之火山島，{...}棉花嶼位於東經122度 6分，北緯25度29分，面積約13.3公頃；{...}於85年8月，本府依保育計畫辦理「小小羊兒要回家」活動，將棉花嶼上放養山羊運回台灣本島，希望能恢復海島原來面貌。{...}屏風岩{...}於本島東側海域上另有一岩礁屹立於海中，蔚為一奇觀，稱之「屏風岩」。
  6. ↑ 記者盧賢秀、黃旭磊、徐義平,"北方三島海域　將設國家公園"存档副本 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Liberty Times. Archived from the original on 2010-11-02. Retrieved 2018-08-04. 台灣北方海域有三座孤立的小島─彭佳嶼、棉花嶼和花瓶嶼 ，
  7. ↑ 記者盧賢秀,"北方三島小檔案""存档副本". Archived from the original on 2010-09-01. Retrieved 2010-08-30. 島嶼的最東端是台灣極東點，, Liberty Times,2010-8-30.
  8. ↑ http://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/taiwan/txu-oclc-6557994-ng51-10-450.jpg
  9. ↑ Britannica World Atlas. 1967. p. 58. Mienhua Yu
  10. ↑ "Index to the New Map of China" (2 ed.). Shanghai: Far Eastern Geographical Establishment. 1915. p. 12. Craig Island ... ... Formosa ... 臺灣 25.30N 122.8 E
  11. ↑ Cuthbert Collingwood (1868). Rambles of a Naturalist on the Shores and Waters of the China Sea. J. Murray. pp. 118-123 – via Internet Archive.
  12. 1 2 George Leslie Mackay (1895). From Far Formosa (4 ed.). Fleming H. Revell Co. pp. 184-185 – via Internet Archive.
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