虎门

Site of the 1839 虎门销烟 (Destruction of Opium at Humen): commissioner 林则徐 (Lin Zexu) had 1,000+ tons of British opium dissolved in seawater pits, the immediate trigger for the First Opium War (1839-1842). Today the site is a national museum and 6 June (the start of the destruction) is China's anti-drug day.

memory

虎门 literally 'Tiger Gate' - the Portuguese rendering 'Bocca Tigris' is a direct calque ('mouth of the tiger'). Two hilly islands at the strait reminded sailors of a tiger's open jaws.