C
TENGYUEH (MOMEIN)--SZEMAO
995
seldom travel during the rains (June to Septeniber), 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 unfavour- able climatic conditions than to the inferior communications. From Tengyueh to Yun- nanfu the road is divided into 24 stages for caravans and sixteen to twenty 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 remarked:-"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."
Owing to its elevation (5,400 feet) the climate of Tengyueh is temperate and health- ier than in 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. The net value of the trade during 1927, as taken cognizance of by the Maritime Customs, was Hk. Tls. 5,644,427, as compared with Hk. Tls. 4,025,074 in 1926, Hk. Tls. 5,456,457 in 1925, Hk. Tls. 4,519,083 in 1924, Hk. Tls. 3,901,308 in 1923, and Hk. Tls. 4,491,549 in 1922. The principal local industry is the manufacture of jadestone ornaments.
CHINESE MARITIME CUSTOMS
Commissioner-L. Peel
Assistant-H. N. S. Wilkinson Examiner A. J. Smith
DIRECTORY
3rd Class Tidewaiter-C. W. Furey Medical Officer-Sein Hline
CONSULATE, GREAT BRITAIN-Tel. Ad:
Britain
Consul-S. Wyatt Smith
MISSIONS
AMERICAN LADIES' MISSION
CHINA INLAND MISSION
SWEDISH MISSION
POST OFFICE
Postmaster-Chu Chia-jui
SZEMA O
* Sĩ-máu
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 gently rising ground overlooking a well-cultivated plain. The elevation is 4,700 feet above the sea- level, and the population is estimated to be about 10,000. The climate is moderate, the temperature rarely exceeding 80 degrees (Fahr.) during the summer and seldom