Unlocked Secrets

Most of us have seen, or at least heard of, the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. What is not commonly known is that the character Sao Feng, a Chinese pirate played by Chow Yun Fat in At World's End - the final part of the trilogy - is based on myths and facts about Hong Kong's very own infamous pirate Cheung Po Tsai.

Cheung Po Tsai was around in the 19th century but his pirating career only started when he was kidnapped from his little fishing village at the age of 15 by Cheng Yat's gang.

Cheung was charismatic and very ambitious. He was so good, in fact, that Cheng adopted him and made him his heir. After Cheng's accidental death in a storm, his wife Ching Shih took control of her husband's fleet and Cheung became her right-hand man. Soon after they married, and Cheung became the boss.

At the height of his power, Cheung's fleet counted an army of 20,000 men and several hundred ships hiding all round Hong Kong's islands. Two of his favourites were Lantau and Cheung Chau. Lantau was a great location, right in the way of boats leaving China. There are a lot of rumours about Cheung's legendary treasurers. The most famous one is about a cave on Cheung Chau, now called Cheung Po Tsai, which is very small and difficult to crawl into. In the past many treasure hunters - too big to fit through the entrance - used expensive equipment to try to discover Cheung's hidden treasure!