Chungking
and the
Yangtze trade.
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and also silk, tobacco, tea, sugar, maize, oil seeds, millet, paper fibres, hemp, indigo, various medicines, ramie, white wax, &c. An increased area is being devoted in Ssuchuan to opium cultivation, which is more lucrative than that of rice and pulse, which it is displacing. But Ssuchuan opium is inferior to the produce of Yunnan. The poppy fields of Ssuchuan, Yunnan, and Kueichon together are said to be ample enough to meet the requirements of nearly the whole of China. Opium is retailed all over Ssuchuan at 140-200 cash (about 6d. or 7d.) per ounce. In Lower Burma the retail price of opium is about 13 rupees per tola, or nearly 60d. per ounce. The commerce of the province is capable of very great development. The trade in silk, the culture and weaving of which are encouraged, might especially be increased. Ssuchuan is almost cottonless, and as the people wear cotton cloths all the year round there is a great demand for cotton piece goods, and still more for Indian cotton yarn, which they weave into cloth, some of the manufactures being sent to Yunnan and Kucichou. At present there is stated to be great ignorance of foreign goods, and only the difficulty of getting them, it is said, prevents a largely increased consumption. Good stout sheetings, cotton scarves and tape, red blankets, quinine, soap, and candles would be favourable articles of import in exchange for silk (the only important article so far sent to Europe), opium, wax, drugs, salt, tobacco, and musk. The opening of Chengtu to foreign trade would have important results, while a steamer service to Sui-Fu would do much to develop trade. There are ample supplies of coal for steamers near the Yangtze. The mineral wealth of Ssuchuan is thought to be enormous, coal, iron, lead, salt, copper, &c. Salt is one of the chief products of the province, the output of the Tzulinching wells being valued at 2,500,0007. annually. But European methods must be applied for the effectual development of mining in Ssuchuan. Chungking (with a population of 300,000) is the commercial key of Western China, the sole wholesale market for foreign goods in Ssuchuan. It has been described as a "perpetual Nishni Novgorod." It is remarkable
for the volume of its trade, and the number and wealth of its merchants. Chungking is reached from the sea by the Yangtze, steamers bringing goods 1,000 miles up the river to Ichang, whence junks (estimated to number 7,000 annually) ascend over a part of the river that is troubled with rapids to Chungking (400 miles from Ichang). The journey down stream from Chung- king to Shanghai occupies from 12 to 14 days, the up-journey about two months. Since Chungking was opened as a Treaty Port in 1891, en- deavours have been made to establish steam communication with Shanghai, but not until the Treaty of Shimonoseki with Japan (1895) was this privilege conceded, and not until last May did a steamer (that of Mr. A. J. Little) reach the city. Chungking is not only the distributing centre for foreign goods, but also an emporium for inter-provincial trade. It is connected with every important town in Ssuchuan by such busy waterways as the Tokiang, Minkiang, and Sulinho. Hitherto commerce from the sea-board has been impeded by the necessity of transhipping goods into junks at Ichang, and the time, labour, and risk attending this operation have curtailed the traffic. Freight to Chungking has cost 107. per ton and 1s per ton per mile beyond, so that foreign goods have been heavily handicapped, especially as customs and transit dues have had to be paid in addition. If commerce is already considerable at Chungking--and according to the Customs Report the exports in 1897 were over 1,000,0007. and the imports 3,250,000-safer, speedier, and cheaper communications with the coast must largely increase the demand for foreign goods in Ssuchuan and also stimulate exports. At present the import of foreign manu- factures is small considering the population. Mr. Bourne considers that skilled control of the navigation is necessary for permanent steam communications. Other important trading towns in Ssuchuan are Chiating, with 150,000 people, a very active agricultural and commercial city, the centre of the silk and white wax industries and of a large salt and timber trade; Hochow, with great traffic in silk, cotton, &c.; Wan Hsien, which is said to have doubled its trade and population in the last 20 years; Fuchow, Fengtu Hsien, &c. Steamer service would probably be practicable up to Sui-Fu, and thence up the Min River to Chiating. Sui-Fu, situated at the junction of the Min and Chin-sha Rivers, is 17 to 30 days up from Chungking. It is the
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mart of Central Ssuchuan, and is in the midst of a district producing coals, salt, &c. Its dense population of 180,000 are engaged in different branches of silk culture. The shops offer a great variety of European goods, cottons, cutlery, toys, &c., in a word (says a member of the Lyons Mission), every bad bauble that Leipzig or Nuremberg can export. It enjoys a large and profitable transit trade, being the entrepôt for products between Ssuchuan, north Yunnan, and Thibet.
There are five routes from the Yangtze to Yunnan-Fu.
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(a.) Hankow to Yunnan-Fu-This is the chief official route. the Tung-ting Lake and up the Yuankiang to Chenyuan-Fu, just within the Yuuuan-Fu,
It goes by Hankow to borders of Kueichou. Here, after 40 days' journey, the boat navigation ends. Then the route lies overland through a mountainous region to Kueiyang-Fu (reached in 8 days), and traverses the rest of Kueichou through more fertile country. Yunnan-Fu is reached in 18 days from Kueiyang (see route b). Thus the total journey is 66 days. This route, known as the Mandarins' route, is but little used for commerce, as the likin duties payable on entering Hunau, Kueichou, and Yunnan, combined with freight charges, render produce too costly for sale in Yunnan, But goods (e.g., opium) required for Hunan and Kwangsi come from Yunnan by this route, while cotton goods from Hankow for Kueiyang-Fu traverse it. Better conditions in respect of transport and taxation would increase the trade in foreign goods. At present these charges involve an addition of 20 per cent. ad valorem to the cost of cotton yarn and shirtings.
(b.) Chungking to Yunnan-Fu vià Kuciyang-Fu-The first town of note Chungking on this route is Chichiang Hsien, an important trade depot for north-west to Yunaan- Kueichou, especially for salt. It is in water communication with Chungking, Fa vid but navigation ceases at Chichiang. Kanshui, near the Kueichou border, is in
Kueiyang- a well-cultivated district producing coal, iron, and copper, and is famed for the
Fu. manufacture of iron pans. Towards Kueichou appears a sea of bare rocky mountains. The precipitous banks of the Sungkan River must be crossed and also a pass 3,000 feet high before Tungtzubsien is reached. Passing coal mines and poppy fields, the traveller comes to Tsuni, a prosperous place with manufactures of very hard and strong silk cloth. There is much poppy cultivation before reaching the capital, Kueiyang (15 days from Chungking). Kueiyang-Fu is a large city with an active commercial population. The road from Kueiyang-Fu to Yunnan-Fu traverses the valley of Langtai Ting, prosperous and full of houses, and famous for superior opium. The country continues difficult, and carts are not seen till the frontier of Yunnan is crossed. Ping-i-hsien (in Yunnan) lies in a large well watered plain and has abundance of coal, which is found all the way from Kueiyang-Fu to Yunnan- Fu. Chan-i-chou is in a vast plain well cultivated with rice, and famous as the breeding ground of Yunnan ponies. Thence the route is by Yanglin to the capital. (An alternative route is from Hokiang on the Yangtze to Kueiyang-Fu. It proceeds up the Chishin-ho to Jeahuai-ting, a town with important salt traffic. There are several large and busy towns along this route, such as Tushan, trade being mainly in salt and opium. Anshun, a prosperous place S. of Kueiyang, reached by fairly good roads, is the second city in Kueichou, and has a brisk trade in local products, especially cotton cloths and whitewax insects, and in foreign goods.)
(c.) Chungking via Luchow to Yunnan-Fu.-From Luchow, a town with Chunking te a great business in transhipment of salt and extensive opium cultivation, Yuan-Fu the route proceeds to Nachi (nine days) and thence by boat up the Yungning vid Luchow. River to Yungning Fu (four days), whence it goes overland through a part of Kueichou, and reaches Yunnan-Fu (21 days). This route is shorter than the Sui-Fu route (d). Moreover, the country is easier and the path better. But almost all the trade goes by Sui-Fu, because the Yungning route crosses a corner of Kueichou, which involves an additional likin, while on the Sui- Fu route Yunnan and Ssuchuan are conterminous, Goods from Chungking through Kaeichou are said to pay three likins and twelvo prefectural taxes before reaching Tali, while by the Sui-Fu route they pay only two likins and seven prefectural taxes. Yungning-hsien, being on the frontier of Ssuchuan
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