The area of Xiangjiang was part of the land carved out from Dongguan County to establish Xin'an County during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, remaining under Guangzhou Prefecture, Xin'an County from the first year of Wanli (1573) until Qing Daoguang (1841).
In the first year of Kangxi (1662), the Qing court deployed troops to the New Territories, initiating a vigorous campaign of "keeping the head but not the hair, keeping the hair but not the head."
Not until the end of the First Trade War (1841) did England seize Xiangjiang Island, and Emperor Daoguang tried to recapture it by force, issuing several imperial edicts.
On August 29 of the following year, the Qing court signed the Jiangning Treaty with England, ceding Xiangjiang Island to England.
On October 24, 1860, Qing Daoguang signed the Capital City Treaty with England: ceding the area south of Boundary Street in the Kowloon Peninsula to Britain.
