Huangpu in Guangzhou

In the mid-19th century, foreign merchant vessels had to berth at Huangpu (Whampoa) in Guangzhou. Pictured in the foreground of this painting is the Lady Mary Wood, the first steamship of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. (P&O), which arrived in Hong Kong via the Cape of Good Hope in 1845 to begin operating a scheduled monthly route.