Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties were important places for trade and tourism at home and abroad. Huajie Pavilion was established here in Ming Dynasty to manage the import and export of foreign goods, and Xigubao was established here in the middle of Qing Dynasty to guard Guangzhou.

The Qing government in China implemented a closed-door policy. In the decades before the Opium War, only foreigners were allowed to trade in Guangzhou, and thirteen businessmen were in charge. Shisanshang is a semi-official and commercial organization, located in Shisanxing Road and Cultural Park in Guangzhou today, responsible for underwriting and paying customs duties on foreign ships, conveying all negotiations between the government and foreign businessmen, and accepting and binding foreign businessmen.

Due to China's social and economic self-sufficiency and restrictive foreign trade policies, British businessmen have been unable to open the China market for a long time, resulting in a serious trade deficit. The contradiction between foreign capitalism and the Qing government is getting deeper and deeper, and the Qing government's regulations on foreigners are getting stricter and stricter.

It was not until after the Opium War that China and Britain signed the treaty of nanking that Guangzhou became one of the five earliest trading ports in modern China. Britain was eager to gain a foothold in South China, and the township put pressure on the Qing government to rent land in Guangzhou.