A Chinese warship from the Ming Dynasty, though China has never been a historical naval power...
Hong Kong, however, has a rich maritime history spanning over 2000 years. I visited the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense (eastern edge of Hong Kong Island) over the weekend for a quick history lesson - $5 HKD (70 cents American) well spent.
Tanks and cannons on the museum ground immediately captured my interest: I'm an engineer, so machines in general are awesome :) The museum had a great view of the HK Island strait: you could see the transform from a fishing village to a high-rise metro center in a matter of a few miles (or should I use kilometers haha), small tugboats pulling freighters, people enjoying life on cruise ships and speedboats, and sea birds flying around in groups. Now for some history: I've bolded some terms you can look up if you're really interested any of the topics.
Europe had always been interested in China for its jewelry, silk, and various bobbles - but China had remained a well-defended and well-isolated empire throughout the dynastic period. The British Empire found the way to infiltrate China through trading opium, however. The opium trade was devastating to both the Qing Dynasty high office and economy - opium addiction among ranking officials was widespread and led to corruption down to county levels; and China's valuable silk, artifacts, as well as gold and silver stores were extracted from the country as payment for opium.
One Chinese official, Lin Zexu, showed his integrity and loyalty to China by seizing 20,000 crates of opium and burning it at Humen (lit. "Tiger Gate") Port Town in 1839. This would become the trigger for the Opium Wars between the British and Chinese. The Opium Wars is arguably the start of the Qing Dynasty's decline.
Today, Chinese authorities still practice the burning of illegal drugs at Humen Port Town to commemorate the first Opium Burning.
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Next Episode: "Among the Stars"
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