Directory_and_Chronicle_1892 — Page 600

WENCHOW-FOOCHOW

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on the conversion of Wênchow into a treaty port it would speedily recover its old position as a tea exporting place, but this has not proved to be the case, although it is estimated that tea could be put on the Wênchow market for $2 per picul less than at Foochow, owing to the higher cost of transport to the latter port. At present there is no foreign settlement, and the foreign residents are a mere handful, consisting almost entirely of officials and missionaries. A large quantity of native opium is produced in the vicinity of Wênchow. There is a considerable native export trade in wood and bamboos, brought down the river in rafts from Ch'u-chow. The annual value of this trade is estimated to be not less than $2,000,000. The shops and yards engaged in it are situated in the west suburb, where immense quantities of bamboos and poles are kept on hand. Wenchow is also celebrated for its bitter oranges. The export of Tea in 1890 was 5,344 piculs, as compared with 3,661 piculs in 1889. The value of the whole trade of the port for 1890 was Tis. 603,161, compared with Tls. 659,776 in 1889.

DIRECTORY

CHINA INLAND MISSION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Mrs. Stott

Consul-John Fowler (res. Ningpo)

Robert Grierson, Ping Yang

Miss Bardsley

Miss Whitford

Miss Tanner

門衙事領國英大

Ta Ying-kwok ling-82-nga-mun

CONSULATES

GREAT BRITAIN

also

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, Consulate

GERMANY, Consular Agency

SWEDEN AND NORWAY, Consular Agency

Acting Consul-R. W. Hurst

Constable-John Compton

CHINA MERCHANTS' S. N. Co.

Tsze Hsi-Ting, agent

海甌

Ou Hai-kuan

CUSTOMS-IMPERIAL MARITIME

Acting Commissioner-A. Lay

Asst. and Medical Officer—J. H. Loury

Clerk-D. Percebois

Boat Officer-W. G. Harling

Assistant Examiner-C. H. Erskine

Tidewaiter-J. Trojel

UNITED METHODIST FREE CHURCH MISSION

Rev. W. E. and Mrs. Soothill

Rev. J. W. Heywood

FOOCHOW

Foochow (or Fuh-chau-fu) is the capital of the Fokien province. It is situated in lat. 26 deg. 02 min. 24 sec. N., and long. 119 deg. 20 min. E. The city is built on a plain on the northern side of the river Min, and is distant about thirty-four miles from the sea, and nine miles from Pagoda Island, where foreign vessels anchor.

The attention of foreigners was early attracted to Foochow as a likely place where commercial intercourse could be profitably carried on in the shipment of Bohea Tea, which is grown largely in the locality. Before the port was opened, this article used to be carried overland to Canton for shipment, a journey which was both long and difficult. The East India Company, as early as 1830, made representations in favour of the opening of the port, but nothing definite was done till the conclusion of the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. The early years of intercourse with the natives were anything but what was anticipated. The navigation of the river was difficult, there was no market for imports, and several attacks by the populace rendered the port an undesirable place of residence for some time. It was not until some ten years after the port had been opened that there was much done in the export of Tea from the interior, but after that the quantity shipped increased largely, and Foochow became one of the principal tea ports in China. "Since 1880, when the tea trade of the port reached its highest figure, the export being 737,000 piculs, the prosperity of the place has been on the wane, until in 1890 the shipment of this its staple product had fallen to 398,595 piculs.

The city is built around three hills, and the circuit of the walled portion is between six and seven miles in length. The walls are about thirty feet high and twelve feet wide at the top. The streets are narrow and filthy, but the number of trees about the official quarter of the city, and the wooded hills enclosed by the walls, give a picturesque

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