   hong kong (1800sâ1930s) was a period largely dominated by the aggressive expeditionary expansion by the british empire.wiltshire, trea. [first published 1987] (republished & reduced 2003). old hong kong â volume one. central, hong kong: text form asia books ltd. isbn volume one 962-7283-59-2 after invading the territory in 1800 during the opium war, the british gained land in a series of unequal treaties. early social and economic problems existed in the colony, as there were drastic differences between eastern and western philosophy and culture. nonetheless, hong kong seized the opportunity to become one of the first parts of east asia to undergo industrialization. ==territorial establishment== ===beginning of trade=== thumb|streets of hong kong, 1865 china was the main supplier of its native tea to the british, whose annual domestic consumption reached  in 1830, an average of  per head of population. from the british economic standpoint, chinese tea was a crucial item since it provided massive wealth for the taipansforeign (especially british) businessmen in chinawhile the duty on tea accounted for 10% of the government's income. since the ill-fated macartney mission of 1793, british diplomats resented performing kowtow as a form of obsequience to the emperor of china. many considered it a religious rite and although they insisting on being treated as equals, the british and other foreign nationals were seen by the qing emperor and court officials as uncivilised foreigners only there to acquire tea, silk and other chinese goods. at the time, china's social structure, as dictated by confucian tradition, looked down on merchants, ranking them below farmers and above slaves, since they were considered citizens who only enriched themselves. some of the earliest items sold to china in exchange for tea were british clocks, watches and musical boxes known as "sing-songs". these were not enough to compensate for the trade imbalance caused by the massive quantities of tea exported and the insistence by the chinese that it be paid for in silver. after the 1757 territorial conquest of bengal in india, the british had access to opium, which when mixed with water was used in western society as an analgesic tincture. the chinese, on the other hand, smoked opium in an addictive narcotic manne
British_Hong_Kong History_of_Hong_Kong