A402
NINGPO
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Ningpo is built on a plain which is surrounded by many small hills. The walls of the city, originally enclosed a space of some five miles in circumference, they were pulled down in 1931 and macadamised roads now occupy the entire site. Ningpo has the reputation of possessing the fourth library in the Republic of which the founder was Fan Chin (k) a high officer under the Ming Dynasty. There are also many beautiful temp.es. The Fukien temple of
The Fukien temple of "Mother of Heaven" is famous for its carved pillars. The Nyo Wang (E) and Tien Dong (X) monasteries, which are accessible by launches or motor bus, are situated in the hills some forty li from city. The former is celebrated for its "Holy Pearl" (✩ # *) and "Shining Pine-tree" (*) and the latter for its wealth. The railway to Hangchow is completed only as far as Pakuan () but there is a motor road to Hsiao Shan (II) near the bank of Chien Dong River (1) some 90 li from Shaohsing (). Four main bus routes starting from Ningpo are in operation (1) The Ning-Feng Public Road (REAR) which joins Ningpo with Fenghua by motor transport of about 13 hours; The Ning-Chin-Tze Public Road (A) which starts from Ningpo, passe) Lotchiao (駱駝橋) and terminates at Kwei Hai Wei (觀海衛) in Tzeki (慈谿);(3) The Ning-Chuan Motor Bus Road (*****) from Ningpo to Chuan Shan () along the coast, covering a distance of 42 kilometres; (4) The Ning-Huan Road() from Ningpo to Huangshan Pu. Passengers from Ningpo to Hangchow and vice versa can make the journey in three ways: (1) by the combined method of rail, ferry and motor bus; (2) by motor bus via Kwei Hai Wei, Tsao-O (# Shaohsing() and Asiao Shan) with the assistance of ferry boats when crossing the rivers; or (3) by motor bus via Fenghua ( ), Hsinchong (H), Chen Hsien (F), Sliaohsing and Hsiao Shan. There is also a landing ground for aeroplanes in 'T'uan Tang (#) outside the south gate, which was made by order of the Ministry of War in 1932, but no air traffic has yet taken place.. The population of Ningpo is estimated at 260,000. There are a cotton mill, a match factory, an electric light company, a telephone company, a flour mill, two coal ball factories, three knitting factories, two cotton weaving and dyeing factories and two canned goods factories. A new stock-breeding school has been established at Fênghua (t) by General Chiang Kai-shek at his personal expense. ten iniddle schools (four of which belong to foreign missions) and about a hundred primary schools. In all educational institutions girls play their part and co-education is encouraged. There is no college in the port as yet. There are some ten Chinese foreign style banks; no foreign bank has ever been established since the opening of the port in 1842. Foreign business interests are represented in only four firms: Butterfield and Swire, Standard-Vacuum Oil Company, Asiatic Petroleum Company and Olivier Chine, but in all cases the local management has been entrusted to Chinese agents. All foreign business is now in the hands of Chinese agents, the last foreign agent having left the port in April, 1932. There are five main steamship lines, one of which is British, the rest being Chinese; and steamers proceed to and from Shanghai daily except on Sundays. Small launches ply regularly to inland places along the coast and to the Buddhist island of Pootoo, a well-known place of pilgrimage and where foreigners may spend holidays during the suminer. The staple cxports of the district are green tea, straw mats, straw and rush hats, samshu, bamboo poles, cotton yarn and vegetable medicines. The Ningpo Lakes are very beautiful and provide excellent shooting. There is a proposal to make San Men Wan (M) into a good modern harbour.
TRADE IN 1935
There are
Ningpo was still suffering from the paralysing effects of the previous year's drought and unusually tight money market. With the exception of direct imports from abroad showing an increase of 2.4 million dollars in value, coastwise importations and exportations of Chinese products and direct exportations of Chinese products to foreign countries all showed a general decrease. Heavy importations of rice in the first part of the year from Saigon and Rangoon, totalling 1,082,376 quintals, accounted for the large increase in the value of imports from abroad. However, a good harvest in the autumn, which precluded the foreign importations, made an exportation of 141,743 quintals to Shanghai possible. Partly due to the tightness of the money market and partly to the competition of native sugar from Swatow and Canton a general decline was recorded in the importation of foreign sugar, the annual figure for the former being 54,023 quintals showing an excess of 2,398 quintals over the previous year. Iron manufactures and American kerosene oil likewise suffered a considerable set-back,