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CHEFOO.
Chefoo is situated on the northern side of the Shantung Promontory, in lat. 37 deg. 35 min. 56 sec. N., and long. 124 deg. 22 min. 33 sec. E. The designation by which it is generally known among foreigners is a misnomer, as the town of Yentai is really the port to which the name has come to be applied. Chefoo is a harbour in the locality of Yentai, but has no connection with it.
When the town was first occupied by the merchants of other nations, it was in the possession of a number of French troops, and no definite foreign settlement was then marked out. The consequence is that no plan has ever been adopted in the arrangement of the houses, and many of them have been in time surrounded by native buildings. The Chinese town is squalid and uninteresting. It is built on the shore, and possesses a fine sandy beach. The surrounding country is gently undulated for some little distance from the town, and beyond that the hills rise to a considerable height and lend to the landscape an interesting and varied aspect.
Chefoo of late years has become the resort of many foreign residents in China in consequence of its very salubrious climate. It is said to be the healthiest port in China. In winter, when the Pei-ho is frozen, merchandise and mails for Tientsin and some of the more northern cities are landed at this port and conveyed to their destina- tions overland. The harbour is commodious and possesses sufficient depth of water for vessels of considerable draught, but it is exposed to strong gales which prevail at certain seasons of the year. Chefoo is celebrated as the place where Sir Thomas Wade and Grand Secretary Li Hung-chang concluded the Convention" in September, 1876, and thus brought to a termination the negotiations which had been pending so long respecting the reparation demanded by the British Government for the murder of Mr. A. R. Margary in Yunnan. The population of Chefoo is estimated at 35,000.
"Chefoo
The trade of Chefoo, like that of Newchwang, is principally in Beancake and Beans, of which large quantities are annually exported to the southern ports of China. In 1881, the net export of Beancake amounted to 1,086,488 piculs and of Beans to 167,833 piculs, as against 967,717 piculs of the former and 189,873 piculs of the latter in 1880. The quantity of Opium imported in 1881 amounted to 1,759 piculs as compared with 2,402 piculs in 1880, and 3,536 piculs in 1879. This import steadily declined for several years, owing partly to the increased cultivation of the poppy in Shantung and partly to the dreadful famins which have desolated the province, but revived again in 1878 and 1879, pobably on account of a decreased production of the native drug; in 1880 and 1881 it showed a large decline, owing to the poppy being again extensively cultivated. The total value of the trade of the port for 1881 was Tls. 9,575,346, and for 1880 to Tls. 9,905,815.
Consulates.
大英領事署
Ta-ying-ling-shi-shu.
GREAT BRITAIN.
Consul-H. P. McClatchie
Constable-W. Van Ess
大法領事署
Ta-fa-ling-shi-shu.
FRANCE.
Vice-Consul-H. P. McClatchie
DIRECTORY.
比利時領事署
Pi-li-shih-ling-shi-shu. BELGIUM.
Consul-T. T. Fergusson
大美領國事署
Ta-mei-kuo-ling-shi-shu.
UNITED STATES.
Consular Agent—A. R. Platt Constable-H. H. Sigg