THE AMOY WATERFRONT

Amoy was one of five ports opened to the West in the November 1842 treaty that ended the first opium war, but, until it was closed to foreigners in the 18th century, Amoy had actually been a stop for Portuguese, Dutch and British traders as early as 1541. Its location - just north of Canton at the mouth of the Nine Dragon River - led to its prominence in the 19th century tea trade. Because of the interaction between Westerners and Amoy dialect-speakers conducting this trade such words as "tea," "Pekoe," "ketchup" and "kowtow" came into English usage.

C. Crossman, The China Trade, p. 418, illustrates another rare view of this port in the collection of the museum at Mystic Seaport.