File:THE OLD FACTORY SITE, CANTON.jpg

English: The Shamian Factories at Guangzhou.

John Thomson: IN 1684 a small patch of land on the bank of the river at Canton was granted to the East India Company, with permission to erect a factory there, provided all their traders and trading operations were strictly confined within its circuit. This site, with its present boundary- wall and buildings, surrounded by the miserable makeshift huts of the poorest class of the population, is shown in the photograph annexed. It now forms the American Concession Ground, and its buildings are occupied by Messrs. Russel, and-by Messrs. Smith Archer, two of the oldest American houses in China. The appearance of this site in 1751 is well described in Osbeck's " Voyage," where some account may be found of the many dangers and disadvantages to which the merchants of a century ago were constantly exposed. They were restricted from entering the city, and were also held responsible for the payment of the heavy duties on merchandise. Their profits, however, in those days were so enormous as to enable them to retire in affluence after effecting one or two successful shipments. Time has wrought great changes since. While the city of Canton and its people have remained in statu quo, a vast foreign trade has sprung up, and multitudes of pale-faced merchants now transact their business with all the facilities which steamboats, telegraphs, and a thoroughly organized system of imperial Customs afford. But rapid fortunes are much more rarely accumulated now than when the factories were flourishing in years gone by. Sha-mien, the British Concession Ground, has taken the place of the " Factory Site ; " and its green sward, its rows of trees, its flower- garden and promenade fronting the river, its elegant stone residences, and well-built church, would not disgrace a fashionable suburb in London.

The repellent policy of the Chinese Government subjected foreigners to much humiliation, and ended in a declaration of war in 1839. Canton was ransomed when on the point of being captured by the British forces in 1841, and peace was thereupon re-established by the treaty of Nankin. Notwithstanding the terms of the treaty, the Chinese persisted in closing Canton against foreigners, and their obstinacy culminated in fresh hostilities in 1856. On the 15th of December in that year, the houses on the " Factory Site" were pillaged and burned — on the 29th December the city was captured by the allied forces of England and France, and occupied till 1861.

Canton, although boasting of a great antiquity, has few ancient monuments to show, owing to the perishable nature of the material out of which the houses and public buildings have been constructed. Its wall is about six miles in circuit and thirty feet in height, built of brick on a basement of granite, and backed by an embankment of earth. An inner wall, running east and west, divides the enclosure into the old and new city, the former being approached by four gates, and the latter by twelve. The present population of Canton is estimated at one million.