Directory_and_Chronicle_1877 — Page 825

CHINA AND ITS OPEN PORTS.

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a favourable market, rarely if ever insure their goods, and by selling in small quan tities, and constituting themselves their own salesmen, at once procure ready buyers, and save the standing commission to which the compradores of foreigners are entitled." The export trade of Tientsin is very small compared with the import. Cotton is cultivated in the locality, and some years ago great expectations were entertained concerning it. Coal, it is believed, will eventually be exported in large quantities. The Tea exported goes principally to Russia and Siberia via Kiachta. In 1875, 197,795 piculs were exported in this way. Opium to the extent of 3,881 piculs was imported in 1875, as compared with 5,333 picula in 1874. The total revenue of the port in 1875 was Tls. 318,074; in 1874, Tls. 371,301. The population of Tientsin is estimated at 950,000.

NEWCHWANG.

Newchwang is the most northerly port in China open to foreign trade. It is situated in the province of Shing-king, in Manchuria. It is known by the natives as Ying-tz, and lies about thirteen miles from the mouth of the river Liao, which falls into the Gulf of Liao-tung, a continuation of the Gulf of Pechili.

Before the port was opened, comparatively little was known of the place. Situated in a wild region, the greater part of which is little else but a wilderness, it was never visited by outsiders. The natives in the outer districts partake of the primitive character of their surroundings, and divided into tribes they mostly lead a wandering life. The word Ying-tz means military station, and that was the only use formerly made of the place. Between the years 1858 and 1860, the British fleet assem- bled in Ta-lien-wan Bay, and early in 1861 the foreign settlement was established. The town of Newchwang itself is distant from Ying-tz about thirty miles, and is a sparsely populated and unimportant place.

The country about Newchwang is bare and desolate, and in sailing up the river one encounters anything but a pleasant prospect. Ying-tz is surrounded by marshes, and the land under cultivation produces principally Beans. The river is closed by ice for more than three months every year, during which period the residents are cut off entirely from the outer world.

The chief articles of trade of the port are Beans and Bean-cake, 1,740,099 piculs of the former, and 1,007,401 piculs of the latter being exported in 1875, with 11,640 piculs of Bean Oil. The trade in Beans and Bean-cake shows a steady increase during the last ten years. The net quantity of Opium imported in 1875 was only 896 piculs as against 1,327 piculs in 1874, and 2,421 în 1873." The quantity of Opium imported has steadily decreased during the last eight years. The total revenue of the port for 1875 amounted to Tls. 239,466, as against Tls. 192,751, in 1874. The population of the place is estimated at 60,000.

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