NINGPO
裝響 Ning-po
Ningpo is situated on the river Yung, in the province of Chekiang, in lat. 29 deg.gl 55 min. N., and long. 121 deg. 22 min. E. It was one of the five ports thrown open to foreigners in 1842. Foreigners had, however, visited Ningpo at an early date. Portuguese traded there in 1522; a number of them settled in the place in that and succeeding years, and there was every prospect of a rising and successful settlement soon being established. But the lawless acts of the Portuguese soon attracted the attention of the Government, and in 1542 the Governor of Chekiang ordered the settlement to be destroyed and the population to be exterminated. A large force of Chinese troops soon besieged the place, destroying it entirely, and out of a population of 1,200 Portuguese 800 were massacred. No further attempt at trade with this port was made till towards the close of the 17th century, when the East India Company established a factory at the island of Chusan, some 40 miles from Ningpo. The attempt to found a trade mart there, however, proved unsatisfactory, and the factory was abandoned b after a few years' trial. The port was deserted by foreigners for many years after that. When hostilities broke out between Great Britain and China in 1839, the fleet moved north from Canton, and on the 13th October, 1841, occupied Ningpo, and an English garrison was stationed there for some time. In March, 1842, an attempt was made by the Chinese to re-take the city, but the British artillery repulsed them with great slaughter. Ningpo was evacuated on May 7th, and, on the proclamation of peace in the following August, the port was thrown open to foreign trade.
Ningpo is built on a plain which stretches away to a considerable distance on either side. The walls of the city enclose a space of some five miles in circumference. They are built of brick, and are about 25 feet high, 15 feet wide at the summit, and 22 at the base. Access is obtained to the town by six gates. A large moat commences at the north gate and runs along the foot of the wall for about three miles on the landward side, until it stops at what is called the Bridge Gate. The main street runs from east to west. Several of the streets are spanned by arches erected in memory of distinguished natives. Ningpo has been celebrated as possessing the fourth library of Chinese works, in point of numbers, which existed in the empire. It was owned by a family who resided near the south gate. The site occupied by the foreign residences is on the north bank of the river. The population of Ningpo' is estimated at 255,000. The city will eventually be connected with Shanghai and Hangchow by rail, but at present the line is completed only as far as Pakuan, east of Shaohsing.
There are a cotton mill, a match factory, an electric light company, and a local telephone company. The tea trade has fallen off owing to a deviation of the Foochow teas, which formerly passed through Ningpo but are now forwarded to Shanghai vid Hangchow. The net value of the trade of the port in 1924 was Hk. Tls. 44,876,694, as compared with Hk. Tls. 41,619,357 in 1923, Hk. Tls. 37,468,611 in 1922, and Hk. Tls. 34,416,836 in 1921.
亞細亞
Ah-si-ah
DIRECTORY
ASIATIC PETROLEUM Co. (North China),
LTD.-Tel. Ad: Doric
H. B. Dixon, manager
A. R. Le Quesne
Miss Palmer
行銀國中
BANK OF CHINA
司公煙美英
BRITISH-AMERICAN TOBACCO Co., Ltd.
W. Scott, local manager
* Ta-koo
BUTTERFIELD & SWIRE (John Swire &
Sons, Ld.)
R. Denniston, signs per pro.