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MUKDEN
trade in skins, furs and bristles. The chief imports are Japanese and European textiles, hardware, cigarettes, sugar and kerosene oil. The British Cigarette Co. and the Asia Tobacco Co. have opened cigarette factories in the International Settlement, and there is a successful cotton-mill, with a capital of $2,500,000, subscribed partly froin official funds and partly by private individuals. Minerals and metals are mined and smelted in the neighbourhood of Mukden. An increase in the area under beet cultivation is reported, but these crops suffered badly in 1923, and the working of the local Sugar Refining Company was curtailed in consequence. Rice-farming, also, is on the increase, there being some 10,000 acres under cultivation in the Mukden and Sinmin districts. The requirements of the local cotton mill have given an impetus to the growing of cotton in the Liaoyang and Chinhsien districts. The Government Arsenal, the largest in China, is situated east of the city and covers over a square mile of ground.
Mukden is situated in slightly undulating country a few miles north of the Hunho, a tributary of the river Liao, about 110 miles north-east of the port of Newchwang, and has stations on the Chinese Government Railway and the South Manchuria Railways 1 miles to the west of the city. The city stands four square, each side being 2 334 li long, but it is not absolutely north and south. It is walled. The inner town, which is nearly a mile square, is protected by a stone wall 35 feet high and 15 feet wide on the top, pierced by eight gates, two on each side, which formerly had high towers above them, but only the one over the "Little West Gate" now remains. A smaller wall encloses the ancient palce, which stands in the centre of the inner city, like the palace at Peiping. There are four main streets, which cross east and west, north and south, from gate to gate. Mukden has four railway stations. Adjoining the station of the South Manchuria Railway is the large Japanese Railway Settlement, which was taken over from the Russians after the war. The total area of this Settle- ment is about 1,500 acres, and it has been developed of late years into a town of spacious squares and wide streets. East of the Japanese Settement is the Settlement set aside for the foreign residential and business quarter. Most of the big yamên and Govern- ment buildings were erected in 1908. Throughout the city a great deal of building has been going on during recent years and the main roads have been macadamized. In 1920 new houses were built by the Standard Oil Co., the British-American Tobacco Co., and the Banque Industrielle de Chine. Actually miles of new houses-good-looking red-brick structures--are springing up, and the Railway Settlement is fast being linked up with the Chinese business quarter. The North Eastern University, occupying a site to the south-east of the Imperial North Tomb was completed and opened in 1926. At two points of junction of three main streets, and therefore not quite in the middle of the city, are placed two towers called the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower, respectively. The street between these towers is the principal business street of Mukden, and in it are situated all the most important shops and banks. The whole of the main streets were reconstructed and re-metalled during 1907-08. The streets and shops are lighted by electricity, the use of which has spread with remarkable rapidity. The Mukden Electric Light Works recently completed the installation of a new 2,500 k,w. plant, which practically doubled its capacity and is now contemplating further additions. On December 1st, 1920, a long-distance Japanese telephone service was inaugurated between Mukden, Antung and Changchun, and there is a Chinese service between Mukden and Peiping and Mukden and Harbin. According to the census taken by the police in 1920, the Chinese population was returned as 219,750, but is now estimated at about 350,000. There are about 15,000 Japanese in the city, suburbs and Japanese
ettlement, over 1,000 Russians, and some 600 other foreigners.
In August, 1923, a Chinese Municipal Office was inaugurated to control municipal affairs in Mukden city and suburbs (excluding the mart Settlement area, which continues under the control of the Land Office); its functions comprise upkeep and lighting of roads, issue of building and other permits, collection of various taxes and fees, and the management of primary schools. With improved roads, motor traffic has made tremendous strides during the last year or two, and there are now nearly 600 motor trucks and over 1,400 cars registered in Mukden.
Nurhachu, the founder of the Manchu dynasty, established himself at Mukden in 1625, and his tomb (the Tungling, Eastern tomb), about seven miles east of the city, is an object of great interest. The great mound and funeral hall are enclosed within a high wall pierced by one large gateway which holds three arched portals, and the avenue of approach is spanned by two lofty stone arches elaborately sculptured. Two massive couchant lions guard the portal. Nurhachu's son is buried at the Peiling