In 1840, after the British Expeditionary First Fleet invaded the north from the coast of Guangdong and captured Dinghai, Zhejiang, it agreed to hold negotiations with the Qing government in Dagukou, Tianjin. In November, the Minister of Chincha, Qi Shan, arrived in Guangdong, and due to the harsh conditions set forth by the British envoy Plenipotentiary Yi Lu (i.e., C. Elliot), the Qing court decided to mobilize troops from the provinces to prepare for armed resistance. In order to force the Qing side to obey, the British army took the lead in attacking the Qing army's Shajiao and Dajiao Forts, and the Qing army was defeated miserably.
This had to make the Daoguang Emperor re-acquaint himself with this small British island nation, and called the cabinet minister Qi Shan to his side and asked the British what the conditions were. Qi Shan replied to the request that the Qing Dynasty cede Hong Kong to the British, and Dao Guang asked what place Hong Kong was and how large it was. Qi Shan looked at a plate of sesame cakes on the table and replied, Emperor Da Qing is like this big cake Hong Kong is a sesame seed on this cake. The population and economy are not good, and only a few dozen fishing villages make a living from fishing, and there is not even a decent-sized market. After hearing this, Dao Guang was extremely excited and said why not let it go.
Since then, Hong Kong, the Pearl of the Orient, has fallen for a hundred years.