HONG KONG MARITIME MUSEUM, Deck C Room C4

The last exhibit to visit on Deck C, in room C4, is entitled “Creating Victoria Harbor”. It will take you along a timeline that goes from 1841, the year Hong Kong became a British colony, to the years following the Second World War.

It’s fascinating to observe the radical change undergone by Hong Kong during its first 40 years as a British colony, from a natural harbor with little fishing villages to the most important trading port in China.

In just a few short years, the bay became filled with docks, warehouses and offices for merchants from a variety of countries in Europe and Asia.

One of the most interesting works in the room is a large canvas entitled “The Alexander Hume Scroll Painting of Foreign Factories in Canton”, painted on silk by an unknown artist using a particular tempera technique known as gouache.

Alexander Hume was a businessman who worked for the East India Company in Canton, where he bought the work which shows what the port looked like around 1772, when it was painted.

At that time, Canton was the only Chinese port where, thanks to a decree by the Emperor Qing Qianlong, trade was permitted with the West....