NEWCHWANG
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NEWCHWANG
莊生 Niu-chwang 子營 Ying-tes
Newchwang is the most northerly port in China open to foreign trade. It is situated in the province of Shing-king, in Manchuria. It is called by the natives Ying-tz, and lies about thirteen miles from the mouth of the river Liao, which falls into the Gulf of Liao-tung, a continuation of the Gulf of Pechili.
Before the port was opened, comparatively little was known of this part of the Central Kingdom. Manchuria has since, however, been largely colonised by the Chinese, who now outnumber the natives. The word Ying-tz means military station, and that was the only use formerly made of the port. Between the years 1858 and 1860, the British fleet assembled in Ta-lien-wan Bay, and early in 1861 the foreign settlement was established. The town of Newchwang itself is distant from Ying-tz about thirty miles, and is a sparsely populated and uninteresting place, but the construction of the railways is rapidly increasing its importance. At the end of 1899 the Eastern Chinese Railway line (Russian) between Port Arthur, Dalny (Talienwan), and the junction at Ta-shih- chias, whence a branch runs to this port, was completed as far as Moukden and the Imperial Chinese Railway line from Tientsin to Yingkow was practically accomplished. Systematic attack has also at last been made upon the mineral resources of Man- churia, the Eastern Chinese Railway having opened coal mines at Mo-chi-shan and Tz'uêrh-shan near Liao-yang, and at Wa-fung-tien in the south of the Liaotung peninsula. The railway line runs close to these valuable properties. An unprecedented expansion in trade has accompanied these developments, showing an increase of 49
per cent. over 1898.
The country about the port of Newchwang is bare and desolate, and in sailing up the river a most cheerless prospect greets the traveller's eye. Ying-tz is surrounded by dreary marshes, and the land under cultivation produces principally beans. The river is closed by ice for more than three months every year, during which period the residents are entirely cut off from the outer world. The climate, however, is healthy and bracing. The population of the place is estimated at 60,000.
The chief articles of trade at the port are Beans and Bean-cake; 2,241,053 piculs of the former and 2,289,544 piculs of the latter being exported in 1899. Japan took 93 per cent, of the native productions in 1899. The net quantity of Opium imported in 1898 was 92 piculs, compared with 2,453 piculs in 1897. The import of Opium has of late years shown an almost continuous decline, the poppy being largely and successfully culti- vated in Manchuria. The total value of the trade of the port for 1899 amounted to Tls. 48,357,623 as against Tls. 32,441,315 in 1898. The port figured conspicuously in the troubles in China in 1900, the Chinese troops who attacked the town being defeated by the Russians, who took possession of the port. Trade in 1900 was necessarily suspended.
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生茂 Mow-sing
DIRECTORY
AMERICAN TRADING COMPANY: Tel. Ad.
Napoleon
C. McCaslin, agent
H. R. Everall
Agencies
China Traders' Insurance Company Royal Insurance Company (Fire)
Tokyo Rope Manufacturing Company
昌旗
Chee-chang
BANDINEL & Co., Merchants and Shipping
Agents
J. J. F. Bandinel
W. J. Lister
F. D. Farmer
Jas. M. Bandinel
C. John
L. Tuck
Agencies
National Bank of China, Limited Nippon Yusen Kaisha
China Shipowners' Association Norddeutscher Lloyd
Hamburg-America Line
Austrian Lloyd's Steam Navign. Co.
Northern Pacific Steamship Company Osaka Shosen Kaisha
Dodwell & Co.'s Steamers
Transatlantic Transport Insce. Co., Ld.
REMINGTON TYPEWRITERS stand the test of constant service.
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