46
TENGYUEH SZEMAO
1013
transport, and the time occupied on the trip is usually about eight days. Pack animals -seldom travel during the rains (June to September) when through traffic is practically .at a standstill, which means that, contrary to expectations, the construction of the new" road, which is passable all the year round, has not resulted in any increase of summer trade, the cessation of business during this period being due more to un- favourable climatic conditions than the inferior communications. From Tengyueh to Yunnanfu the road is divided into 24 stages for caravans and nine for postal couriers. It crosses a succession of mountain ranges varying from 4,000 to 10,000 feet in height, besides being intersected by numerous rivers, including the Sweili, the Salween and the Mekong, which would appear to render any railway project too speculative and too costly to be commercially practicable. Referring to the question of railway construc- tion, the Commissioner of Customs in the course of an interesting report for 1906 remarks:-"Should the visionary project of connecting Yunnan and Burma with a trunk railway be ever seriously considered, an initial difficulty will be the selection of a suitable route. Two have been suggested the so-called Bhamo route via Tengyueh; and the valley of the Salween route via Kunlun Ferry. Opinions are divided as to which is the better, but the latter perhaps allows of easier gradients and is, for various reasons, the more preferable. Both, however, are difficult, and it must be admitted that neither is really suitable for railway construction. Considering the almost insur- mountable physical difficulties presented and the colossal expenditure which would be involved, the practicability, viewed commercially, of such a scheme may well be questioned."
The
Owing to its elevation (5,400 feet) the climate of Tengyueh is temperate and health- ier than any of the valleys in the vicinity, which are rendered excessively unhealthy by malignant forms of malarial fever. Malaria is, however, very prevalent in the town itself during the rains when mosquitoes are plentiful, and when the general health of the place is poor. The average yearly rainfall is about 65 inches, most of which falls from June to September, when the incessant dampness is somewhat trying. net value of the trade during 1915, as taken cognizance of by the Maritime Customs, was Hk. Tls. 2,900,00), as compared with Hk. Tls. 2,572,500 in 1914, Hk. Tls. 3,132,075 in 1913, Hk. Tls. 2,506,905 in 1912, Hk. Tls. 1,684,213 in 1911, Hk. Tls. 2,003,286 in 1910, Hk. Tls. 1,563,361 in 1909, Tls. 1,765,868 in 1998, and Tls. 1,732,212 in 1907. The principal local industry is the manufacture of jadestone ornaments.
DIRECTORY
Chung
2nd
CHINESE FIRST CLASS POST OFFICE
First Class Postmaster
Chik Chi
CHINESE CUSTOMS
Asst.-in charge-H. G. Fletcher
Asst.-R. C. Grierson
1st Class Tide waiter-M. O. Albertsen
do.
-W. A. Palmer Medical Officer-Nihal Chand
CONSULATE GREAT BRITAIN-Tel. Ad:
Britain
Acting Consul-A. E. Eastes
SZEMAO
茅思 Sz-máu
Szemiao, 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 gently rising