CONSULATES
GREAT BRITAIN
Ulso
TENGYUEH–SZEMAO
DIRECTORY
CUSTOMS-IMPERIAL MARITIME Commissoner–F. W. Maze Assistant –A. J. L. MacGregor Examiner--A. D Copeland Tidewaiter---J. C. Jónes
Medical Officer-R. L. Sircar
POST OFFICE---IMPERIAL CHINESE Postmaster--F. W. Maze
Postal Clerk - Sui Hing-pan
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
Acting Consul -H. A. Ottewill
關新越騰 Teng-yuch Hsinkuon
ル
SZEMA O
茅恩 Szumiu
915
Szemao, opened to the Tonkin frontier trade by the Gérard Convention of 1895 and to British trade by the Burmah Convention of 1896, is situated in the south- western part of the Province of Yunnan in latitude 22 deg. 47 min. 29 sec. N. and longi- tude 100 deg. 46 min. E. It is a sub-prefectural walled town built on a gently rising ground overlooking a well-cultivated plain. The elevation is 4,700 feet above the sea Tevel, and the population is estimated to be about 15,000. The climate is delightful, the temperature rarely exceeding 80 degrees (Fahr.) during the summer and seldoni falling below 50 degrees in the winter months. The plague, such a common visitor throughout Yunnan, is almost unknown in Szemao. The place is distant from both Yunnan-fu (the capital of the province) and Mengtsz 18 days, and from the French Laos frontier 6 days, and from British territory about 12 days. It was opened in the early part of 1897, and so far has not fulfilled the expectation of its potential importance as a trading centre. The value of the trade of Szemao for 1905 was Tls. 246,848 against Tls. 266,983 in 1904, and Tls. 204,766 in 1903. The smallness of the trade statistics has been attributed partly to the fact that, owing to the various routes in the neighbourhood of the port, effective supervision is difficult of attainment. No foreign traders reside at Szemao, the trade being entirely in the hands of local merchants, who have no agencies in either Tonkin or Burmah. The principal article imported is raw cotton, which comes from the British Shan States, particularly from Keng Tung and also from the Haut-Laos. A telegraph line from Túng Hai, viâ Yuan Chiang and Pu Erh-fu, connects Szemao with the existing Chinese overland telegraphs, and another one from Szemao to "Moung Hou" (the first French post across the frontier) makes a junction with the Tonkin lines. Considerable ethnological interest centres in the neighbourhood of Szemao. Writing on this subjuct in the course of his Trade Report for 1905 the Commissioner of Customs states as follows: "It is of much interest to notice the various aboriginal races in this part of Yunnan, living side by side with, and yet differentiated from, the Chinese, and possessing distinct customs, characteris- tics, and traditions of their own. In the surrounding mountains we find the Lolo and Lohe, and in the low-lying plains the Shans, known to the Chinese as Pa-i; interspersed with these is the vassal tribe of the Akas. In the vicinity of the Chinese towns little settlements of the Mahe and Putu, who are offshoots of the Woni, are to be met with. From Talang north to Yüan-chiang and eastwards south of the Red River as far as Man- hao, is the home of the Woni race, who are a swarthy people subdivided into several
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