Sunday 9 June 2013

Monday 10 June 2013

Last week we spent a few hours at Shamian Island.  We had visited the site earlier, but wanted
to see the area again.

This is the island, really a sandbar, that the British used as a permanent trading and residential base.
It is west of the original site where foreign traders were first allowed to set up shop.  This sandbar was
leased from the Chinese government in the late 1850's and became the base for mainly British traders
with a small space for the French.  Other foreign traders remained at an old site to the east, but within
20 years, the island had 10 consulates and many European nationals living there. It was a gated island where
the gates were locked at 9PM and the old, walled city of Canton was off limits.

The island itself is small, only 900 metres long.  The fairly narrow canal, with the two old bridges, still
show how vulnerable the foreigners must have felt living in this "European refuge."  Or perhaps, the
traders didn't feel vulnerable at all, which would have been a blissfully ignorant assumption. 

The island today has 3 long streets and truly is a little bit of Europe.  There is an old Anglican church and
a Roman Catholic church that is still in use.  Now, the island is home to elegant hotels and very nice gift shops.
It isn't really like the rest of the city of Guangzhou, but it has a European charm.  The history of the place makes
it intriguing.

We sat along the wide Pearl River and had our supper at an open air restaurant.  It was easy to imagine steamers
docking next to us and unloading their wares.  The great grandfather of Brad Hertz, another BYU teacher, had lived
in Canton for 8 months in the 1870's.  He was a trader from Hong Kong with a German export company.  His journal says
that he lived across the river from Shamian Island and that the living conditions were very poor. We assumed that
"across the river" meant across the canal, into the city, which would have been just a stone's throw away.  When the
city of Canton was finally opened for free access by foreign residents, most commented that the city 
was chaotic, bedlam.  The island, however artificial, would have been their "European refuge."

After the 1860's. Canton lost its prime importance as a trading centre, as more trading ports in China were opened to the world.

Visiting Shamian Island left me with a very emotional feeling and I can't tell what the feeling is.
It is part pride in the adventurous spirit of the British and other adventurers.  It is part heart ache when I see the
little churches and realizing how far from home they were.  It is part disgust at the arrogance of their demands.
It is part curiosity at how the Chinese dealt with these 'barbarians."  It is part fascination about the 'waltz' that all were 
involved in. 

The day we were on the island, we saw dozens of brides taking official wedding photos.
The place makes a good, unusual backdrop for the pictures.  The architecture is definitely European.
And as always, the brides were fun to watch.  Every Chinese girl that I have seen takes a good photo.
They pose, and it is something that we could do better.



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