Trade Routes

British developed a lucrative route from England to India, where they traded for opium, across the Indian Ocean to the coastal ports of China, where they traded opium for tea, silk and other Chinese goods in demand in Europe, and then back to England. (Pennycook, 1988)

Since the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, Britain had begun to develop its trade routes from Britain to Asia, especially in securing strategic points / garrisons, such as, Gibraltar, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Straits Settlements. Its control over the Mediterranean was escalated after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.

Map 1- There are 2 main trading routes for Sino-British trading:

Great Britain -> Gibraltar -> Mediterranean-> (Malta -> Cyprus)-> Suez Canal -> Red Sea-> Persian Gulf -> Indian Ocean -> Ceylon -> Straits Settlements (Penang -> Straits of Malacca -> Singapore) -> Hong Kong -> Treaty Ports (Guangzhou / Xiamen / Ningpo / Fuzhou / Shanghai)

Great Britain -> Gibraltar -> Cape of Good Hope -> Persian Gulf -> Indian Ocean -> Ceylon-> Straits Settlements (Penang -> Straits of Malacca-> Singapore) -> Hong Kong -> Treaty Ports (Guangzhou / Xiamen / Ningpo / Fuzhou / Shanghai)

(British Colonies:

Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, Ceylon, Cape of Good Hope, Straits Settlements, Penang, Straits of Malacca, Singapore, Hong Kong )

Map 2- It shows how goods were transported between Hong Kong and China (Canton):

!9th Century Sino-British Trade Route Name: Imperial Federation, map of the world showing the extent of the British Empire in 1886 Author: Colomb, John Charles Ready Publisher: Maclure & Co. Date: 1886 Location: Great Britain Colonies, World Dimensions: 86 x 63 cm.	Route 1 Great Britain → Gibraltar → Mediterranean (Malta → Cyprus) →Suez Canal → Red Sea	Route 2 Great Britain → Gibraltar → Cape of Good Hope
→Persian Gulf → Indian Ocean → Ceylon → Straits Settlements (Penang → Straits of Malacca → Singapore) → Hong Kong → Treaty Ports (Guangzhou / Xiamen / Ningpo / Fuzhou / Shanghai)

Hong Kong -> Lintin Island -> Canton

CAH3534

Lingnan Cultural Tradition & Heritage

Sino - British Maritime Trade(1841 - 1895), Hong Kong

Trade Routes

!9th Century Sino-British Trade Route Name: Imperial Federation, map of the world showing the extent of the British Empire in 1886 Author: Colomb, John Charles Ready Publisher: Maclure & Co. Date: 1886 Location: Great Britain Colonies, World Dimensions: 86 x 63 cm.

Route 1 Great Britain → Gibraltar → Mediterranean (Malta → Cyprus) →Suez Canal → Red Sea

Route 2 Great Britain → Gibraltar → Cape of Good Hope

→Persian Gulf → Indian Ocean → Ceylon → Straits Settlements (Penang → Straits of Malacca → Singapore) → Hong Kong → Treaty Ports (Guangzhou / Xiamen / Ningpo / Fuzhou / Shanghai)