This painting is framed as a pair with 'Shipping in the Pearl River off Canton' (BHC1785), but possibly the works are by different, though very similar, Chinese hands. It is view of Henan, or Honam, the island across the river from Canton as viewed from the European factories. The other painting looks the other way and shows the Canton waterfront. In 1842 the Opium War between Britain and China ended with the signing of the Treaty of Nanking. This effectively opened up the five main Chinese ports of Canton, Amoy, Ningpo, Shanghai and Foochow to European traders, who needed considerable naval protection from the persistent depredations of Chinese pirates. Canton was the centre of China's tea trade with Europe and by 1794 Britain was buying four million kilograms of tea each year, in a trade strictly controlled by China.