Shangchuan Island
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Shangchuan Island (Template:Zh, also known as "Schangschwan", "Sancian", "Sanchão", "Chang-Chuang", "St. John's Island" or "St John Island"<ref name="cc">Template:Cite web</ref>) is the main island of Chuanshan Archipelago on the southern coast of Guangdong, China.
Administratively, it is a part of Chuandao (Template:Zh), Taishan. Located Template:Convert from the mainland, it became the largest island in Guangdong after Hainan Island (the largest island in the country) was carved out of the province in 1988.
The area of the island is Template:Convert, and has a population of 16,320.
It is known for having been the place of death of St. Francis Xavier. Nowadays, it is a tourist site in Guangdong. Template:TOC limit
History
The island was called Shangchuan Shan (Template:Lang) in the Ming dynasty, as recorded in the Records of the Unity of the Great Ming (Template:Lang) published in 1461.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Shangchuan Island was one of the first bases established by the Portuguese off the China coast, during the 16th century. They abandoned this base after the Chinese government gave consent for a permanent and official Portuguese trade base at Macau in 1557.
The Spanish (Navarrese) Jesuit missionary St. Francis Xavier died on the island on December 3, 1552, as he was waiting for a ship to take him to mainland China. There is a small chapel that commemorates his death place, designed by Achille-Antoine Hermitte and completed in 1869.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Geography
The island has been isolated from the mainland since the last ice age. It is located near Xiachuan Island, which lies west of Shangchuan. The two islands, together with smaller islets, form Chuanshan Archipelago.
Shangshuan Island has an area of 137.3 km2 and a 217 km coastline.
Settlements on the island include:
- Dalangwan
- Shadi (Template:Zh), a fishing port on the southwestern coast
Climate
Economy
Shangchuan and Xiachuan have been established as a Tourism Open Integrated Experimental Zone (旅游开发综合试验区, pinyin: lǚyóu kāifā zōnghé shìyàn qū).
Feisha Beach Resort (Template:Lang) is a commercial tourist resort located on the island's eastern shore.
Transportation
Shangchuan Island is linked by ferry to Guanghai, Haiyan (Shanju) and Xiachuan Island. Shanzui Harbor provide ferry services between the islands and mainland.
See also
- Chuanshan Archipelago
- Tamão, Lampacau, Shuangyu
- List of islands of the People's Republic of China
- List of islands in the South China Sea
- List of Jesuit sites
Notes and references
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Further reading
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- Masson, Matthieu (2019), "Sancian: Landscape and Architecture in the Burial Place of St. Francis Xavier", Tianzhujiao Yanjiu Xuebao 天主教研究學報 n.10, 173–222.
- De Caro, Antonio (2025). “Pilgrims to Shangchuan Island: (Re-)Constructing a Holy Topography and Celebrating St. Francis Xavier (1688–1933)” in From Europe to Overseas: Saints, Martyrs, Heroes, Models and Soft Power in an Early Modern Global Perspective, edited by Michela Catto and Eleonora Rai. Refo500 Academic Studies series (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2025), 123–137. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.13109/9783666502057.123)
External links
General
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- Satellite view on Google Maps
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