Das Mädchen von Hongkong - Joachim Fuchsberger (1973) - Angler's Beach, Sham Tseng

The dead body of Fuchsberger's buddy ends up getting washed up by a pier. Believe it or not but the low lying headland in the background is actually the north east section of Ma Wan island with the west end of HK Island in the far hazy distance. The angle of HK in the background behind that part of Ma Wan gives me a rough indication of the location somewhere around Angler's Beach.

Actually, we've seen this place before on this blog - it was the beach used in one of the Yellowthread Street episodes which had a bunch of refugee bodies wash up on it (I see a pattern forming...) - although I think at that time the film crew were further to the west end of the beach.

These days there are still two piers on the beach, but neither look like they are likely candidates. I'm also not sure how the expansion of Castle Peak Road affected the area. There looks to be a village name (?) on the white/red sign at the back but I can't read the furthest character - Chinese readers feel free to help.

Most astonishing though is really how much the view has changed. The Tsing Ma bridge now spans the gap to the left of the headland and of course Ma Wan itself has been completely redeveloped into the Park Island development.

Yellowthread Street (TV Series) - Bruce Payne (1990) - Angler's Beach, Sham Tseng

In I Knew a Man, the last episode of Yellowthread Street, Vietnamese refugees are dumped overboard a vessel when a police operation to apprehend the people smugglers (the leader was actually played by 70's kung fu film stalwart, Lo Lieh) goes awry. The bodies of the drowned are washed ashore on a beach.

Believe it or not, the green spit of land you can see above (with HK Island in the far background on the top left) is actually the northern coastline of Ma Wan island - Ngau Lan Tsui (牛欄咀). It's barely recognisable today courtesy of the Park Island development and the Tsing Ma bridge now spanning the channel to the left of it.

The beach (called 釣魚灣泳灘 in Chinese) is still here but there has also been much more development right behind it beyond the treeline largely due to the widening of Castle Peak Road (which also affected the original front wall of Dragon Garden a little way up the road from here) and the construction of several large residential developments along the coastline including Sea Crest Villas.