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TIENTSIN
have been stimulated. Brick buildings are springing up in all directions and the depressing-looking adobe (mud) huts are diminishing. Foreigners formerly lived in three concessions, British, French, and German, which fringed the river below the City and covered an area of less than 500 acres. The Japanese took up a concession in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. They filled in land, laid out new streets and built a large number of houses in foreign style. During 1901 Russia Belgium, Italy, and Austro-Hungary all appropriated large areas on the left bank of the Hai-ho as future Settlements, while the existing concessions extended their boundaries very considerably. These developments have thrown all present and future landing facilities for direct sea-going traffic into foreign hands. The concessions have excellent and well-lighted roads, with an electric tramway system. The British Municipality has a handsome Town Hall, completed in 1889; adjoining there is a well-kept public garden, opened in the year of jubilee and styled Victoria Park. An excellent recrea- tion ground of ten acres has been developed, and three miles distant there is a capitala racecourse, one of the best in China, with a grand-stand and stables not to be equalled in any other port. There are many hotels, two excellent libraries and three churches (Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Union). Electric lighting was introduced in June, 1905.
Distilling is one of the largest local industries; it is chiefly from kowliang (sorghum) or millet. Although a spirit, it is called "wine," and is exported to the south in large quantities. The manufacture of coarse unrefined salt by the evaporation ofo sea water is also carried on near Taku; the produce is stacked some distance downtv river at the first cutting, where all the salt junks now go. The trade in salt is a Govern- ment monopoly. In 1909 the salt export was valued at nearly six and a half million taels. Carpets, shoes, glass, coarse earthenware, and fireworks are also made in large g quantities in the city, but Tientsin is at present essentially a centre for distribution o and collection rather than for manufacture. The exports include coal, wool (from Kokonor, Kanshu, etc.), bristles, straw braid, goat skins, furs, winc, etc. The export trade is a creation of the last 15 or 20 years, and is largely due to foreign initiative. Wool cleaning and braid and bristle sorting arc the chief industries in the foreign hongs except those of the Russians, who are exclusively engaged in the transit of tea. The imports are of the usual miscellaneous nature: arms, tea for the Desert andan Siberia, mineral oil, matches, and needles figure next to piece-goods. The fine arts are unknown to the Tientsinese except in the shape of cleverly-made mud-figures these are painted and make really admirable statuettes, but are difficult to carry away, being remarkably brittle.
The export coal trade may be expected to develop rapidly, as the Chinese Corpora- tion has been replaced by a strong combination of British and Belgian capitalists registered as an English limited liability company. The output and sale of the d Kaiping collieries is about 3,500,000 tons a year, of which about 400,000 tons annually are brought to Tientsin for disposal to local consumers and to native craft navigating the Grand Canal and other inland waterways. Tientsin is the principal sea out-Br let for the entire trade of the provinces of Chihli, Shansi, Shensi, Kansuh, and part of to Honan, with a population not far short of 100,000,000. The net value of the trade of to the port in 1918 was the highest total yet recorded, and an increase of nearly elevend million taels over the value of the trade for 1917. Following are the comparatively statistics for the years 1916, 1917 and 1918:-
Net total imports-
1916
1918
Foreign
Native
...
...
1917
...
...
""
""
...
""
""
Tls. 57,606,509 Tls. 67,198,341 Tls. 73,808,930
26,703,768
33,043,496 28,149,658 48,710,122
42,118,824 51,180,055
""
""
Total exports of local origin
.Net value of trade of port... Tls. 133,020,399 Tls. 142,360,661 Tls. 153,138,643N
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