SZEMAO
茅思 S-mau
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 longitude 100 deg. 46 min. E. It is a sub-prefectual 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 falling below 40 degrees in the winter months. The place is distant from both Yunnan-fu (the capital of the province) and Mengtsz 18 days, from the French Laos frontier 6 days, and from British territory about 12 days. It was opened in the early part of 1897, and so far has not fulfilled the expectation of its potential importance as a trading centre.
TRADE IN 1932.
The trade passing through the frontier mart of Szemao is conducted for the most part with Tonkin, Siam, the British Shan States in Burma, and the Chinese Shan States by means of pack-trains and is of no great importance as regards volume or value. For the year under review some 70 per cent. of the value of the import trade consisted of raw cotton from Burma and Indo-China (a very small proportion from the latter country). A further 10 per cent. of this section of trade was in cotton yarn and cotton piece goods, so that without much exaggeration, it can be said that the inward section of the Szemao trade is cotton. Exports consisted of a little ironware, some nankeens, some medicines, and a very little tea. The tea was sent to Canton via Tonkin as an experiment on the feasibility of using that route in future. The Szemap district was quiet during the year except for a small mutiny that occurred at Wuhu.
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In order to introduce a more effective control of the trans-frontier trade the Szemao Customs opened, towards the end of 1930, a sub-station at Ta-lo, two collectorates at Mêng-lung and Mêng-lien on the south and western frontiers, and in 1933 two more substations were opened at San Mien-po and Paliutu.
Considerable ethnological interest centres in the neighbourhood of Szemao. Writing on this subject in the course of his Trade Report for 1905 the Com- missioner of Customs remarked: "It is of much interest to notice the various aboriginal races in this part of Yunnan, living side by side with, and yet differentiated from, the Chinese, and possessing distinct customs, characteristics, and traditions of their own. In the surrounding mountains we find the Lolo and Lohei, and in the low-lying plains the Shans, known to the Chinese as Pa-i; interspersed with these is the vassal tribe of the Akas. In the vicinity of the Chinese towns little settlements of the Mahe and Putu, who are offshoots of the Woni, are to be met with. From Talang north to Yüan-chiang and eastwards south of the Red River as far as Man- hao, is the home of the Woni race, who are a swarthy people sub-divided into several tribes. Near Talang live a few Min-chia people who have migrated from Ta-li and Yuan-chiang, the headquarters of this large branch of the Shan race. At Shih-p'ing and Yuan-chiang there are several tribes of Pa-i, or Shans proper, and some Yao, also, are to be found in the mountains to the east of Szemao - a remarkable race which is to be met with in scattered hamlets in mountainous districts as far eastwards as Kwangsi. The