The Sand Pebbles - Steve McQueen (1966) - Tai Tau Chau, Sai Kung

I haven't really covered much of The Sand Pebbles despite the fact that it is a great film. The reason is that the HK-filmed scenes were, in general, shot in some rather out of the way places in the northern part of Port Shelter that is called Rocky Harbour. We've already found out where the junk barrier was shot and so I thought this post might help to add a bit more context because it was taken around the same area but looking back towards the direction of Sai Kung town with the famous ridge line behind it

The ridge line in the background includes Pyramid hill on the left and Ma On Shan on the right and has been seen quite a few times in this blog already. In the screen grab there is also an island on the left side on the frame and this is Tai Tau Chau. If you ever get the chance to go here you'll find out that Tai Tau Chau these days seems to be largely used for burying the dead because it is now strewn with hillside graves. Anyway, following my recent trip to the reservoir area, I managed to grab the following snap from the top of the west dam wall which gives an overview of the same area albeit from a height at the top of the wall (which didn't exist until 10 or so years after the film was made).

The junk barrier was somewhere around the edge of the lake at the bottom of the screen and the San Pablo boat in the film grab is seen smoking (fake smoke by the way) its way in the body of water in front of that lower cofferdam wall. You can see Tai Tau Chau on the left in my photo too.