This is a view from the Pearl River showing the foreign factory site after it had been rebuilt following the fire of 1841, and before the fire of 1856. The foreign factories at Canton suffered several major fires. After each one, the western trading companies began to rebuild their accommodation in a more western manner. After the great fires that devastated the area in 1822 and 1841, most of the factories needed to be renovated, although a few survived. This view suggests that the fences used to enclose the square were not re-erected, and shows two large factories in the so-called ‘Shanghai’ style that were built on the site of the old English and Dutch Factories.