During the Daoguang reign, foreign merchant fleets used to moor at Tsim Sha Tsui for replenishment, so the place was the centre of foreign activities like fresh water procurement, sightseeing and trading. It was also a place of historical significance: in May 1839, Lin Weixi, a Tsim Sha Tsui resident, was killed by an allegedly drunken British solider, whereupon the Qing court demanded Britain to hand over the accused for trial. Upon refusal from the British side, the Qing government imposed a sanction on British ships, prohibiting any replenishment to be supplied. Armed conflicts between the two sides finally took place in July at Tsim Sha Tsui, marking the outbreak of the Battle of Kowloon and the Battle of Kwun Chung, historically recognized to be the first shots of the Opium War. In 1860, upon the defeat of China, Tsim Sha Tsui was ceded to Britain. It then became a formal British colony, soon to be modernized.

Tsim Sha Tsui was rich in coastal hillocks that overlooked the sea and the territory — a terrain that the British deemed excellent to become a habour port and a military stronghold. The colonial government, therefore, relocated the residents of Tsim Sha Tsui to Yau Ma Tei after they had taken possession of Kowloon. Early in 1842 the British had already constructed “Kowloon West I Battery” on a mound at southwestern Tsim Sha Tsui, which was turned into the Marine Police Headquarters in 1884. In 1860, soon after the British took possession of Kowloon, a fort was established on another mound (where the Kowloon Park is today), on which an encampment was built in the south and “Kowloon West II Battery” in the north. This mound became the Whitfield Barracks in 1892. The British Army also stationed at Gun Club Hill and King’s Park in the 1860s. In 1884, the colonial government put up an observatory on a mound at northern Tsim Sha Tsui, and in 1907 a signal tower was built on a southeastern mound, which, although commonly known as Tai Pau Mai, became Signal Hill ever since. Apart from the signal tower, one could also find “Kowloon East I Battery”, erected in 1842, at the foot of Signal Hill.