兩百年前，廣州曾是中國唯一的通商口岸，而澳門也曾是唯一一個允許有外國人居住的地方。二十世紀前，由於珠江三角洲河流密佈，陸路不便，來往廣州與澳門主要靠水路。來往兩地曾有兩條水運航道。內河航道從內港向西出發，取路西江入石岐河進入香山縣城，途徑順德縣城、紫坭關、碧江、大王滘進入珠江後航道（外商亦稱之為’澳門水道’）抵達省城廣州，沿途水道彎彎曲曲。外河航道向東經伶仃洋，從虎門入獅子洋，再至黃埔港下碇後經珠江進入廣州城。這兩條航路便承載著鴉片戰爭前閉關的中國的所有對外交流。

 

外河航道主要為貨運用途，航行區域主要在珠江出海口。廣州至澳門全長約130公里，是中國近代貿易史最為重要的航路，也是中國的南大門。1840年前，在此處海域的鴉片走私引發了中英的鴉片戰爭，中方的戰敗使香港成為英國殖民地。而曾經作為貿易中心的澳門與廣州，其商業也隨海禁放開逐漸轉移至香港以及全國其他港口。

 

2020-2022年間，我遊走廣州與澳門的水道之間，根據鴉片戰爭前的舊河道圖，尋找出每個哨點以及沿河市鎮，用無人機拍攝紀錄河道風景。作鄉土風景勘測以及紀錄用途。

 

Two hundred years ago, Guangzhou (Canton) was the only opened port in China, and Macao was the only place that foreigners were allowed to reside. Before the 20th century, commuting between Macao and Guangzhou was heavily relied on waterborne transport, as the dense river networks in the Pearl River delta made land transport inconvenient at that time. There were two main waterways between two places, the inner passage started from the Inner Harbour in Macao, took the westward way into the West River and entering the Shiqi River toward the Xiangshan County; therefrom took the zigzag waterway passing through Shunde, Zini(Purple Mud) Custom, Bijiang, Dawagjiao(The Great King Channel) and arriving at the city of Guangzhou through the back waterway of the Pearl River (also known as Macao Passage by foreign merchants). The outer passage, on the other hand, started eastward toward the Lintin Sea (the Solitary Sea), entering the Lion Sea through Humen (Bogue); thereafter anchoring at the Whampoa Anchorage for custom inspections before entering the city of Guangzhou. These waterways therefore once carried the responsibility for all the foreign communications of a closed China before the Opium War. 

 

Located at the Pearl River estuary, the ‘South Gate’ of China, the east passage is mainly for logistic purpose. With the distance of around 130km, it was one of the most important sea route in history of modern China. Before the 1840s, the smuggling of opium in this area triggered the Sino-British Opium War. The defeat of China in this war made Hong Kong a British colony. And the trading business in Guangzhou and Macao gradually moved to Hong Kong and all other ports in China after the sea embargo has lifted. 

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​During 2020-2022, I travelled along the waterways between Macao and Guangzhou with an ancient river map to locate each outposts before the Opium War, and used a drone to capture the current landscape of the waterways.