KIAOCHAU
817
development of trade which set in under the new Customs arrangement in 1909 continued unabated during 1910 and 1911. The total value of trade increased from 30.7 millions Haikwan Taels in 1906 to 39.7 millions Haikwan Taels in 1909, and reached a total of Tls. 46,820,646 for the year 1911. Kiaochau has become the principal market in North China for strawbraid.
The Bay of Kiaochau is an extensive inlet about two miles north-west of Cape Jaeschke. The entrance is not more than 13 miles across, the east side being a low promontory with rocky shores, with the new town of Tsingtau ("green island," from a small grassy island close to the land) about two miles from the point of the peninsula. On the west side of the entrance is another promontory with hills rising to about 600 feet. The shore here is rocky, and dangerous on the west side, but on the east side is a good stretch of sandy beach. The bay is so large that the land at the head can only just be seen from the entrance (about 15 to 20 miles away), and the water gradually gets shallower as the north side of the bay is approached. The old Chinese Kiaochau city stands at the north-west corner of the bay about 5 miles from the sea and beyond the frontier of the German Protectorate. At Tsingtau there are two anchorages for big ships; the larger and better one is round the point of the east promontory, on the north side, and the other, smaller one, on the south side. A new mole was opened on March 6th, 1904, which accommodates five vessels with berths. A second mole was opened a few months later, and a third for kerosene ships has since been constructed. Both have direct connection with the railway. About 20 ships can be berthed simultaneously in the harbour.
The hills, in former days merely bare rocks of granite and porphyry, are now clad in fresh green owing to an extensive scheme of afforestation, which was decided upon in the early days of the colony. The soil of the valleys between the ranges and the plain country on the north-east is alluvial and very fertile, and is carefully cultivated. Wheat, barley, beans, millet, maize, and many other grains in smaller quantities are grown. The foreign residential quarter at Tsingtau has been well laid out, and there are some good foreign hotels. The first sod of the Shantung Railway was cut by Prince Henry of Prussia in October, 1899, and the line to Chinanfu was opened on the 1st June, 1904. It has done a prosperous business from the day it was opened. In 1911 the goods traffic over the line amounted to 705,073 tons : 908,900 passengers were carried in 1911,which means an increase in passenger traffic of 30% over the previous year's figures. The coal mines are progressing favourably. The output of the Shangtung Mining Company at Fangtse and Tsetchuan (Hungshan) in 1911 was 459,157 tons. The excellent Hungshan coal enjoys an ever increasing demand for bunker coal.
A brewery, soap factory, and two albumen factories are in full work, as well as the Government slaughter-house and ice plant. There is a big export of cattle to Vladivostock. Fruit grafting is just becoming a promising enterprise. The develop- ment of the town of Tsingtau has made considerable progress; the town is thoroughly light by electricity, houses are springing up in all directions, and a system of water supply and sewerage add much to the hygienic conditions of the town. The new harbour works are now finished, but the outer breakwater and two piers have been in use since March, 1904. The dry dock commenced operations in October, 1905, and its business continues to expand. The dock employs 56 Europeans and an average of 1,400 Chinese workmen. The apprentices' school of the Tsingtau Wharf may be regarded as a kind of Technical School.
For the European community the Government maintains a reformed modern grammar school, which is open to boys and girls alike. In addition to the State school there is the girls' boarding and day school of the Franciscan Nuns. There are also a number of village schools in which in a five-years' course of instruction the pupils can obtain an elementary knowledge of Chinese, arithmetic, physical and political geo- graphy, natural science and German. As well as in the State schools, good opportu- nity for acquiring Chinese and Occidental knowledge is offered by the educational institutions founded by the various missions. For secondary instruction in European and Chinese sciences there is the German-Chinese High School. The High School was opened on October 25th, 1901. Its aim is to give a thorough education, founded on a knowledge of German science and German culture to its scholars so as to enable them later on to render useful service to China. The High School is divided into two grades. The upper grade is at present composed of four chief branches :
(1.) A Technical Faculty
(2.) A Jurisprudential and Political Economy Faculty
(3.) A Husbandry and Forestry Faculty Google
(4.) A Medical Faculty
by