Tianzi Wharf

This guide to Tianzi Wharf in Guangzhou begins on March 10, 1839, when Lin Zexu, the emperor's newly appointed commissioner, stepped ashore at the one pier in the city where officials were allowed to land, sent with a single order: end the opium trade. It traces the decades of smuggling that trade involved, past corrupt customs officials, and the ceremonial kneeling ritual officials performed here before boarding their boats. Two stone reliefs still mark the wharf today, one for each of the events that made this stretch of riverbank famous.