Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Smouldering friction between Great Britain and China over the drug finally erupted in the conflict fought in its
name: the First Opium War. The Treaty of Nanking (1842) that concluded the hostilities opened five ports, in-
cluding Shanghai and Canton, to the West.
The Concessions
Of the five ports, Shanghai was the most prosperous due to its superb geographical location, capital edge and
marginal interference from the Chinese government. Great Britain's arrival in Shanghai, dating from 1843, was
soon followed by that of other nations. Trade quickly flourished as the area outside the Old Town was divided in-
to British, French and American Concessions. The original British Concession included the Bund and the area ex-
tending due west to today's People's Sq; the American Concession was established shortly thereafter to the north
in Hongkou. These two concessions later joined to form one large area known as the International Settlement.
The French settlement began to the south with a small sliver of land wedged between the British Concession and
the Chinese town (now the Old Town) but later developed inland, eventually giving rise to the area still known by
foreigners as the French Concession.
Growth
Trade of silk, tea, textiles, porcelain and opium was matched by rapidly developing banking, insurance and real-
estate sectors. China and the West traded with each other via Chinese middlemen called compradors (from the
Portuguese). Lured by the sense of opportunity, a growing swell of immigrants from other parts of China began to
arrive. The city found itself propelled into a new era of gaslight, electricity and cars, and became the foremost
agent of modernisation and change in post-imperial China.
 
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