Running from today (March 23) until January 8, 2008 at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, "The Chater Legacy -- A Selection of the Chater Collection" exhibition features 46 works including oil paintings, watercolours, sketches, prints and photographs. Pictured is one of the exhibits, "Foreign Factories in Guangzhou", created in c1815. In 1757, Emperor Qianlong ordered the closure of all seaports, leaving only Canton (Guangzhou) open to foreign trade. The Hong merchants, a guild of Chinese merchants, leased riverside premises outside the city district to foreign merchants as residences and offices. Since then these buildings were known as Factories or Hongs. The district later became known as the "Thirteen Hongs". This drawing shows flags of foreign merchants flying in front of the foreign Factories. Small cargo boats are anchored along the praya to load and unload import goods.   Close