The Battle of Kowloon was a skirmish between British and Chinese vessels off the Kowloon Peninsula, China, on 4 September 1839. Located in present-day Hong Kong, Kowloon was then part of the Guangdong province. The skirmish was the first armed conflict of the First Opium War and occurred when British boats opened fire on Chinese war junks enforcing a food sales embargo on the British community. The embargo was ordered after a local Chinese man died in a drunken brawl with British sailors. The Chinese authorities did not consider the punishment meted out by British officials to be sufficient and as a result, suspended food supplies in an attempt to force the handover of the culprit. In response, the British summoned nearby warships to force the Chinese to lift the embargo.