FOOCHOW
A433
towering cliffs, surmounted by fortifications and cultivated terraces, is extremely pic- turesque, and has been compared to some of the scenes on the Rhine. The Yung Fu, a tributary of the Min, also affords some charming scenery, the hills rising very abruptly from the river bank. The Min Monastery, the Moon Temple, and the Kushan Monastery, all occupying most romantic and beautiful sites, are fine specimens of Chinese religious edifices, and are much resorted to by visitors. Game abounds in all the ravines and mountains in the vicinity of Foochow, while tigers and panthers are common in the more remote hills, and some of these beasts have been killed within ten miles of the city.
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Most foreign vessels are compelled to anchor at Pagoda Anchorage owing to the shallowness of the river above that point. The limits of the port of Foochow extend from the City Bridge to the Kimpai Pass. The Min River Conservancy have, however, for several years been engaged in dredging and draining the river which is now navigable for vessels not exceeding 15 feet in draught and 265 feet in length right up to the City Bridge. Consequently during 1934 some coasting vessels from Shanghai have regularly steamed right up to Foochow. The Mamoi Arsenal, near Pagoda Anchorage, an extensive Government establishment, was bombarded by the French on the 23rd-24th August, 1884, and reduced to partial ruin, but was restored. The establishment was later reorganised, and was for some years administered by French experts. There is a dock in connection with the Arsenal on Losing Island. The dock is over 300 ft. long and has very powerful pumps and a good steel caisson. The Fukien Christian University, moved into its new quarters, just below Kushan Point, at the end of 1921. The site comprises some 50 acres of hill and plain. The object of the University is to provide cheaper education for Chinese on Western lines and in more congenial surroundings than are to be had abroad. In June, 1900, the port was visited by the most disastrous floods known there in living memory; the river, rising through heavy rains, overflowed and deluged the country, sweeping away villages and causing immense havoc and loss of life. According to the census of 1932 the population of Foochow and its suburbs is 346,992.
The trade of Foochow continues to decrease, plue partly to the world-wide depress- ion, but mainly to the disturbed state of the country.. Bandits and communists ravage the countryside, plundering the merchant and the farmer, preventing the planting and harvesting of crops and the carriage of goods to and from the port. Only the walled cities are safe from their depredations, and in August 1934 several cities were captured and sacked, while Foochow City itself was attacked.
Imports from abroad fell from $10,621,000 in 1932 to $9,460,000 in 1933, while exports remained practically constant-$4,816, 000 in 1932 and $4,804,000 in 1933,
The tea trade-Foochow's mainstay-received a great fillip by the agreement entered into by India, Ceylon and Netherlands East Indies to restrict crop output for a period of five years. Prices of all growths naturally advanced, and China's teas reaped consid- erable advantage. The balance of the 1933 crop was cleared off and arrivals of 1934 teas to the beginning of July were 50% higher than in the corresponding period of 1933; but the Communist advance into tlie Min Valley cut off further supplies while a rise in sterling brought local business to a practical standstill.
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KULIANG AND SHARP PEAK
Ku Liang 川石
Ji Chuan Shih (Sharp Peak)
A refuge from the heat of summer at Foocliow can be gained by a four hours- chair ride to the top of Kuliang, te,, “Drum Pass," which is a mountain resort situated about nine miles east of Foochow. The thermometer indicates an average of 10 degrees cooler on the mountain than it is in Foochiow; the nights are always cool and blankets a necessity for comfort. Dr. Rennie was the first to build a house of foreign design at Kuliang in 1886. Now there are upwards of one-hundred such houses, and every summer between four and five-hundred persons, chiefly missionaries, are in residence on the mountain. According to the Admiralty Chart, Kuliang reaches a height of