Directory_and_Chronicle_1877 — Page 824

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CHINA AND ITS OPEN PORTS.

Hankow (including re-exports from Kiukiang) amounted in 1875 to 486,908 piculs. In the same year Opium was imported to the extent of 2,325 piculs as against 2,861 in 1874. The revenue of the port in 1875, amounted to Tls. 1,605,486, and in 1874 to Tls. 1,459,076. The population of Hankow is estimated at 600,000.

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 bouses, 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 most salubrious port in China. In winter, when the Peiho is frozen, merchandise and mails for Tientsin and some of the more northern cities are landed at this port and conveyed to their destinations overland. The harbour is commodious and possesses depth of water for vessels of considerable draught, but it is exposed to strong gales which prevail at certain seasons of the year. Chefoo will be henceforth noted as the place where Sir Thomas Wade and Li Hung-chang concluded the "Chefoo Convention" in Sep- tember, 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. Margary in Yunnan.

The trade of Chefoo, like that of Newchwang, is principally carried on in Bean- cake and Beans, of which large quantities are annually exported to the southern ports of China. In 1875, the net export of the former amounted to 1,066,813 piculs. The quantity of Opium imported in the same year amounted to 2,960 piculs as compared with 4,153 piculs in 1874. The total revenue of the port for 1875 amounted to Tls. 304,036, and for 1874 to Tls. 313,039. The population of Chefoo is estimated at 30,000.

TIENTSIN.

Tientsin is situated at the junction of the Grand Canal with the Peiho river in lat. 39 deg. 3 min. 55 sec. N., and long. 117 deg. 3 min. 55 sec. E. It is distant from Peking by river about 80 miles. It was formerly only a military station, but towards the close of the 17th century it became a place of some importance. The walled portion is small compared with the suburbs, the circumference of the walls being only a little over three miles. The principal trade is carried on in the suburbs. The purely native city has the reputation of being exceptionally dirty, and the stench from open drains in and about the city is said to be the cause of a high rate of mortality there. There are a number of soap boiling works in the neighbourhood, and the smell that arises from them is most disagreeable.

A number of foreigners live in the suburbs of the native city, but the concession is situated about a mile and a half farther down on the south bank of the river.

There is a fair foreign trade done at Tientsin compared with the other open ports. When the port was first opened, it is said that money was picked up very quickly by the few merchants then on the scene. In course of time, however, the Chinese began to make headway, and they have the trade now pretty well in their own hands. A recent Customs' report speaks of one great advantage that natives here have over foreign competitors. The former "purchase their stocks in Shanghai when there is