Hong Kong Soilsadministrative region, China Chinese (Pinyin) Xianggang or (Wade-Giles) Hsiang-Kang

In general, Hong Kong’s soils are acidic and of low fertility. An exception is the alluvial soils, which are found mainly in the Deep Bay area, where the sediment-laden waters of the Pearl meet saline waters at high tide and slow down to deposit their sediments to form mud flats. Paddy rice farming and, more recently, intensive vegetable cultivation have modified the alluvial soils. Elsewhere, hill soils, classified as red-yellow podzolic and krasnozem, abound. Under forest, these hill soils have a well-developed profile, with rich topsoil, but, when they are exposed, as is mostly the case, they tend to be thin and lacking in nutrients. Under tropical conditions, sheet and gully erosion is extensive and drastic.