Xiamen (Amoy)
Xiamen was a large city, the most important commercial center in Fujian province during this period. It was home to the office of the Xinghua-Quanzhou-Yongchun Circuit Intendant (daotai), a powerful official situated on the administrative ladder between the Quanzhou Prefect and the Fujian Provincial Governor. Xiamen was also the headquarters of much of the military infrastructure of southern Fujian, and housed the office of the Fujian Admiral (shuishi tidu), whose boats patrolled the coastline where Shi Hou and his foreign contacts ran their opium operation.
