Shangchuan Island

File:中国广东省江门市台山上川岛 China Guangdong Province, Jiangmen City - panoramio (10).jpg

Flying Sand Beach (Template:Zh) on the eastern coast of Shangchuan Island.

Shangchuan Island (Template:Zh, also known as "Schangschwan", "Sancian", "Sanchão", "Chang-Chuang", "St. John's Island" or "St John Island") 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 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 , 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.

History

File:Muerte de san Francisco Javier.jpg

Painting of the death of St. Francis Xavier by Francisco Goya.

File:Chapel of the Tomb of St Francis Xavier at Shangchuan Dao.jpg

Plan of the Chapel of the Tomb of St Francis Xavier at Shangchuan Dao, by Achille-Antoine Hermitte. Completed in 1869.

The island was called Shangchuan Shan () in the Ming dynasty, as recorded in the Records of the Unity of the Great Ming () published in 1461.

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.

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

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 () 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

Further reading

• 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

• Satellite view on Google Maps
• Website about ShangchuanTemplate:Category handler Template:In lang
• Shangchuan on taishan.comTemplate:Category handler Template:In lang
• on tsinfo.com.cnTemplate:Category handler Template:In lang
• Pictures of the islandTemplate:Category handler (click on the links on the left to view more)

Maps

• Old mapTemplate:Category handler

Francis Xavier Chapel

• Picture of Shangchuan island. The chapel marks the location of Francis Xavier's deathTemplate:Category handler
• Another picture of the chapelTemplate:Category handler
• Satellite view of the chapel