Dr. Ronald C. Po (London School of Economics and Political Science)

Canton and Macao are two exceptionally prominent and symbolic port cities linking China and the rest of the world. Their histories are so well known that they should require no further elaboration. Instead of retelling the relatively familiar stories of these two places, we will look at the history of how these two seaports were brought together through a mapping project thought to have been completed in the nineteenth century. Our attention will be directed to a map of the waterways (shuidaotu) which connect these two trading hubs. By focusing on the various features and whimsical details of this shuidaotu, we can also further complicate our understanding of the history of coastal surveying as well as earlier studies of these two representative cities in maritime Asia.