Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2020complete | Page 36

The Greater Bay Area
Dulwich College Beijing, Soldati, Valerie - 9
On the northern coast of South China sea there lies a country called Greater Bay Area. GBA is a young
country but yet, it has thousand-year-old heritage. Traveling through this land, you can find both modern
skyscrapers and UNESCO heritage historical sites (Kaiping watchtowers), you can taste both traditional
Cantonese dishes and modern Western food. Some parts of GBA are buzzing and vibrant having great
population density (Macau is number 1 in the world with 20000/km 2 ), whilst the others are very quiet and
peaceful. All these make it special.
Wildlife
GBA is home to a wide range of animals and birds. There are approximately 365 mammal, 272 amphibian
and 194 amphibian species. The tropical and subtropical climate creates an ideal habitat for them.
Among animals, endemic to GBA are the giant panda, the blue-nosed monkey and of course the unique
box-headed lizard. Unlikely to other lizards who are incredibly fast runners, the box-headed one is very
slow. Unsurprisingly, feeling threatened it doesn’t run away but rolls its body inside the box-like head and
produces frightening sound. It makes the lizard look like a hissing shoebox. This is often enough to scare the
predator away.
Some animals are not native to Greater Bay Area, they found their home
here during the colonization period. For example, the Azores noctule is a
species of bat originated from the forests of Azorean islands, Portugal.
Did you know…?
The Azores noctule is the
only bat specie which is
known to hunt at the day.
Not all animals inhabiting GBA are very friendly. Surely enough, you
wouldn’t like to come face to face with a many-banded krait. Its name comes from many black and creamy
white stripes. The many banded krait is amongst the most venomous serpents in the planet. The scientists
believe that one bite of this snake contains enough toxin to kill 20 men.
Unfortunately, some species residing in the country are directly threatened with extinction, and the Chinese
pangolin is one of them. It is a very shy and secretive nocturnal mammal. The Chinese pangolin uses its long
claws to dig out anthills and termite mounds. While eating the animal shuts its nostrils to stop the ants from
rushing up the nose. Chinese pangolins are considered as a scrumptious meal, that’s why poaching together
with deforestation brought them close to extinction.
Amazing Fact!
The body of Chinese pangolin is covered both overlapping
scales and hair, which is a very rare combination in mammals.
Food
If you are the one who likes tasting delicious food, GBA is the right place for you because here you can find
a variety of traditional Cantonese cuisine, Portuguese dishes which arrived during the colonization period
and modern food from all over the world.
One of Cantonese specialties is Dim Sum. It is mainly small steamed dumplings filled with a wide variety of
stuffings. The savoriest filling is salted fish skin.