2-979-067 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The British Factories at Canton, 1857. '...from a drawing by a Chinese artist...The comparatively small space occupied by the foreigners on the river-side is, notwithstanding its limited extent, a pleasant spot. The whole quarter contains about four acres. The foreign merchants occupy the large buildings in the rear as places of business and abode...The stranger is struck with the peculiar aspect of the place, when on one side, in proximity to low, dingy, Chinese houses, buildings of European structure rise to the height of three or four stories, while on the other the river is densely populous with the inhabited boats. The foreigners term their residences and places of business factories, but the natives designate them as hongs, which is the usual Chinese word for a commercial establishment or warehouse'. From "Illustrated London News", 1857.