A Street Divided - The Historical Background of China-UK Street

💟 China-UK Street is located at the junction of Shatoujiao Street, Yantian District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, and the North District of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It backs onto Wutong Mountain and faces Dapeng Bay to the south. The small river flowing from Wutong Mountain to Dapeng Bay has silted up to form the street, originally named 'Egret Path'. It is about 250 meters long and 3-4 meters wide. The street is divided by a 'boundary stone' in the middle, and there are shops on both sides of the street, offering a wide range of products from all five continents. 💟 China-UK Street has five streets and roads, including pedestrian streets, ring roads, seaside streets, cross streets, and Bihai Roads. The main buildings include entrance squares, entrance buildings, arcades, corner buildings, corner squares, banyan tree-lined roads, return squares, Tin Hau Temple squares, seaside viewing roads, China-UK Street landmark tower parks, seaside green water corridors, and China-UK Street sculpture walls. On June 8, 2012, China-UK Street was rated as a famous historical and cultural street in China. From January 1, 2018, the 10 yuan fee for the 'Border Special Management Area Pass' to enter China-UK Street has been officially cancelled. The pass processing time is 8:30-12:00 and 13:00-16:00, at the pass processing hall at the entrance of China-UK Street. 💟 Historical Background ◉ The historical background of China-UK Street is the Opium War. In 1840, the UK launched the Opium War, and China suffered a defeat under the UK's strong ships and guns. On August 29, 1842, China and the UK signed the 'China-UK Nanjing Treaty', which stipulated: 'Because British merchant ships, often damaged and need to be repaired, should be given a place along the ship for ship repair and storage of materials. Now the Emperor has granted the island of Hong Kong to the British monarch and his successors, who will always be in charge and can legislate and govern at will.' From then on, Shatoujiao, a small town in Xin'an County, was pushed to the forefront of the border line. ◉ On June 9, 1898, the 'China-UK Hong Kong Boundary Extension Treaty' was signed in Beijing, the main content of which was: 'The governments of China and the UK have roughly agreed to extend the British boundary according to the attached map, as the new lease. The detailed boundary should be determined after the two countries have sent representatives to investigate, and it will be stipulated for a period of ninety-nine years.' The boundary surveyors of China and the UK came to Shatoujiao and started to measure and survey along the river from the seaside. Wooden boundary stakes were erected at the measured points, with the words 'Boundary of Xin'an County, Qing Dynasty' written on them. Later, they were changed to stone boundary markers, and 20 boundary markers were erected on the border of Shatoujiao, eight of which were in Shatoujiao Town, evenly erected in the middle of a small sand and stone river on the side of Tongwu Market. Shatoujiao was divided into two parts, the east side was the Chinese Shatoujiao, and the west side was the British (Hong Kong) Shatoujiao. Later, people filled in the old river and built houses to do business on both sides of the old river, so a street was formed in the middle of the old river. Because the China-UK boundary line is in the middle of this street, people call it China-UK Street.