China. Shanghai. 2016. Inside the former British Consession area a 'chopped' motor bike and rider goes past a stack of bamboo poles, indicating that a building is about to go up on this spot.
The Treaty of Nanking in 1842 concluded the First Opium War and brought peace between China and Britain; the opening of Shanghai and other port cities, as well as residence for foreigners and consulates in those cities; fair import and export tariffs and the possession of Hong Kong. In 1843 the first British consul moved into the Old Town, signalling a foreign presence that would last until the Japanese invasion of China during WWII. The year 2017 commemorates 175 years of the British Concession in Shanghai.