PEI-TAI-HO
Pei-Tai-Ho is a watering place on the Gulf of Pe-chi-li, which the energy and enterprise of the foreign community of Tientsin have called into existence within the last few years. It lies some 22 miles S. W. by W. from Shanhaikwan, where the Great Wall meets the sea, in latitude 39 deg. 49 min. N., longitude 119 deg. 30 min. E., and is distant from Tientsin by railway 157 miles. Nine miles distant is the harbour of Ching Wang Tau, which the Chinese Imperial Government has declared its intention of making a Treaty Port. Under the auspices of the reconstructed (British) Chinese Engineering and Mining Co., Ching Wang Tau is being made into an ice-free, safe, deep-water har- bour, giving access in all weathers to ocean-going steamers all the year round: the neces- sary works to ensure this end have been pushed forward during 1902, and vessels draw- ing 18 ft. can now be berthed at the jetty. The hinterland is rich in coal and iron, and has good railway communication with Tientsin and Peking; there is little doubt that Cheng Wang will soon become a great export coal depot, if not a considerable em- porium for general trade. The land round about has all been taken up by the Com- pany, which has been entirely reconstituted during the past year. The boundaries of the Treaty Port have been extended along the foreshore of Shallow Bay for nine miles, and are then spread out as to include the 3 or 4 square miles on which the foreigners have settled at Pei-Tai-Ho. The fact that the watering-place lies within the port limits gives legal title to all land purchase, and will ensure some sort of foreign Municipal control in the near future. An attempt has been made to obtain this from the Imperial Government; meanwhile, the foreign community has made temporary arrangements and has submitted to voluntary taxation for combined sanitation.
Pei-Tai-Ho at present is accessible only by rail from Peking, Tientsin, Taku and Newchwang, though the journey extends over two entire days from the Manchurian caport. The railway station lies from four to six miles from the various settlements, and the journey is made by chair, donkey, or walking. Carriages cannot be used, as the roads are like those which General Wade superseded in the Scottish Highlands. There are six mites of beach of every possible variety, and the bathing is excellent from the middle of May to the first of October. The country rises at once from the shore to undulating uplands; most of the houses are at an elevation of fifty or a hundred feet above sea level. At the west end the country is diversified by the Lotus Hills, a series of granite rocks which come close to the sea, and are an off-shoot from the Pittah Hill twelve miles inland. The Lotus peaks rise to about 400 feet. The soil is chiefly a sand formed by disintegrated granite; it is very dry, fertile and non-malarial. The water is excellent but it is feared that the large access of foreigners and their careless Chinese servants may issue in well-contamination if precautions are not promptly taken. In 1896 there were about twenty tenements, in 1899 about one hundred; in July, 1899, the population was slightly over four hundred, chiefly from Tientsin, Peking and the mission stations of Chih-li. There are three major and two minor settlements; West Shore, Rocky Point and East Cliff being the designatories of the former. Most of the Tientsin and Peking laymen are at West Shore; it has the advantage of proximity to the Lotus Hills and the Station, and has more pleasing scenery near at hand. Its demerits are a somewhat tame beach-nothing but sand-and inferior bathing. The latter is due to stinging medus or jelly fish, and to the nearness of the River Tai, which often discolours the water: both demerits have, however, been exaggerated. The missionaries are chiefly at Rocky Point; there they have an Association which regulates their land tenure, sanita- tion, Sunday observance, etc. A strong body of laymen has now settled to the west of this Association' settlement, attracted by the central position, better beach and bathing." The East Cliff was originally a mission investment, but is now a general settlement; it is furthest away from the station and has inferior bathing (one place excepted), but on the other hand it has magnificent land and sea-scapes and faces due East, unlike the other settlements which have a Southern aspect. The rains are heavy in July and early August, but the sandy soil enables one to be out of doors at once after a heavy rain. The temperature varies from 4° to 10' below that of Peking and Tientsin in the height of summer; there are no hot winds, as the prevailing breeze is nearly south and is sea-borne.
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