Directory_and_Chronicle_1906 — Page 1016

TENGYUEH-SZEMAO

853

eight days by pack animals, the only form of transport. In a straight line the two places are only 80 miles apart. The road at present used is for the greater part of the way a rough mule track, and in the rains (June to September) is often impassable. Arrangements have now been made to open the route via Kulika and Man-hsien, on the left bank of the Taiping, a route which will have the advantage of being open for mule traffic all the year round. The work is being done under the direction of the ' Burma Government Public Works Department at the expense of China. The present road from Bhamo as far as Talifu on the way to Yunnanfu, crosses a succession of mountain ranges varying from 4,000 to 10,000 feet in height, making any railway scheme distinctly chimerical, by this route at least. From Tengyuel to Yunnanfu the road is divided into 24 stages for pack animals and 12 for couriers. Owing to its elevation, over 5,000 feet, the climate of Tengyueh is temperate and healthier than any of the valleys on the way to Bhamo, many of which are rendered most unhealthy by malignant forms of malarial fever. Malaria is, however, very prevalent in the town during the rains. The rainfall during 1903 was 69.37 inches, about 60 of which fell during the months May-September. The Custom House was opened on the 8th of May, 1902. The value of the trade up to the end of that year was Hk. Tls. 661,695. The trade during 1903 showed a satisfactory increase, the total for the year being Hk. Tls. 1,715,653. The principal imports are yarn, cotton piece goods and raw cotton, while exports are chiefly represented by raw silk, orpiment and medicines. The import of cotton goods in 1903 exceeded in value one million taels. The only handicraft of importance in the town, which is now beginning to recover from the effects of the Mohammedan rebellion, is the manufacture of jade ornaments from stone imported from Burma.

CONSULATES

GREAT BRITAIN

also

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

Consul -G. L. Litton

DIRECTORY

BK Teng-yueh Hsin-kuan

關新越騰

CUSTOMS-IMPERIAL MARITIME

Assistant in charge-C. S. Napier Assistant-A. J. L. MacGregor

Assistant Examiner--E. Watson Tidewaiter-J. C. Jones

Medical Officer-R. L. Sircar

SZEMA O

茅思 Sz-mizu

Szemao, opened to the Tonkin frontier trade by the Gérard Convention of is95 and to British trade by the Burmah Convention of 1896, is situated in the south- western part of the Province of Yunnan in latitude 22 deg. 47 min. 29 sec. N. and longi- tude 100 deg. 46 min. E. It is a sub-prefectural walled town built on a gently rising ground overlooking a well-cultivated plain. The elevation is 4,700 feet above the sea level, and the population is estimated to be about 15,000. The climate is delightful, the temperature rarely exceeding 80 degrees (Fahr.) during the summer and seldoni falling below 50 degrees in the winter months. The plague, such a common visitor throughout Yunnan, is almost unknown in Szemao. The place is distant from both Yunnan-fu (the capital of the province) and Mengtsz 18 days, and from the

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