CHINA MAILS
12. There was no lifting of the restrictions in the exchange of mails with the China Peoples' Republic and by the end of the year the registration and insurance services and the parcel post had not been resumed. Except for the South China ports of Amoy, Swatow and Swabue, to which mails were exchanged by local sea service, all mail traffic to and from the mainland was confined to the Kowloon-Canton railway route. The average transit time to Shanghai by this overland route was 5-6 days; to Tientsin 7-9 days.
13. There appears to be no prospect of the direct sea service with Shanghai and Tientsin being resumed.
14. Normal services by sea were maintained with Taiwan, the average time of transmission being 4-5 days by ships leaving for Chiling (Keelung) three times fortnightly.
AIR MAILS
15. Regular and frequent air services were maintained to all parts of the world and there was a satisfactory increase in traffic. The frequency of the direct B.O.A.C. services to Great Britain, Europe and Africa was five times weekly; the average time of transmission of air mail from Hong Kong to London was 4 days. By utilizing the services of the Canadian-Pacific, North-West, Pan-American and Philippine Air Lines it was possible to provide six mails weekly to Canada and the U.S.A.
16. Daily services were maintained with Taiwan (Formosa), Thailand, Burma and Japan; four services weekly were to Indo-China, Malaya, Indonesia, Australia and the Philippines.
PARCEL POST
17. The total number of all classes of parcels posted and delivered was 209,764 and 133,042 respectively.
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