Cheng Po Tsai in Hong Kong

Do you know that a great amount of pirate treasure was hidden somewhere in Hong Kong?

Or so people said. Have you heard of Cheng Po Tsai (張保仔)?

Cheng Po Tsai’s original name was Cheng Po (張保), “Cheng Po Tsai” was a nickname given by the Canton people, meaning “Cheng Po the Kid”. He was a famous 19^th century pirate who roamed the Guangdong coastal region during the Qing Dynasty, and were said to own over 600 ships and lead over 50,000 pirates!

He was an ordinary fisherman’s kid until he was kidnaped by the pirate couple Cheng I (鄭一) and Ching Shih (鄭一嫂 / 鄭氏) at 15. The couple treated him as their adopted son.  After Cheng I’s death, he married Ching Shih (don’t ask…) and inherited the pirate army his adopted father once owned. He took over the pirate business and caused great headache to the government. However, after the defeat of his piracy mate, he surrendered to the Qing government and, in return, he became the captain of the Qing imperial navy to fight against other pirates.

What a legendary life…what’s more legendary is that, it was said that he hid lots of treasure during his stay in Hong Kong! A lot of places are rumored to be the treasure spots: Tap Mun, Lamma Island, Chung Hom Kok…

But the most famous location would be the Cheng Po Tsai Cave (張保仔洞) in Cheung Chau. While it’s called “cave”, it’s more or less just a narrow and winding passage inside a cliff. Scholars believe that the legend about the treasure cave is probably fake, since it’s too small. And even if the cave was used to store something, that “something” would be nothing more than gunpowder. What a way to crush a man’s dream…Still, it’s a popular tourist attraction visited by many even as of today.

So, next time, when you walk by the beaches in Hong Kong, and you find something glittering among the sand…pick your shovel and start digging!

…Heck, who am I trying to lie to?

Everyone knows beaches in Hong Kong are notorious for marine trash.

That glittering thing is probably just a plastic bottle.