Directory_and_Chronicle_1907 — Page 790

CHEFOO

果之 Chi-fu 臺烟 Yen-tai 罘之

;

Chefoo, in the Province of Shantung, is the name used by foreigners to denote this Treaty Port; the Chinese name of the place is Yentai, and Chefoo proper

is on the opposite side of the harbour. Chefoo is situated in latitude 37° 33′ 20′′ N, and longi- tude 121° 25′ 02′′ E. The port was opened to foreign trade in 1863. The number of foreigners on the books of the various Consulates is about 400, but more than half of them-missionaries- live inland. Chefoo has no Settlement or Concession, but a recognized Foreign Quarter, which is well kept and has good clean roads and is well lighted. A General Purposes Committee looks after the interests of the Foreign Quarter and derives the revenue at its disposal from voluntary contributions by residents. The natives are most orderly and civil to foreigners. There are two good hotels and several excellent boarding houses, all of which are full of visitors from July to the end of September. The climate is bracing. The winter, which is severe, lasts from the beginning of December to end of March ;"April, May and June are lovely months and not hot; July and August are hot and rainy months and September, "October and November form a most perfect autumn, with warm days, cool winds and cold nights. Strong northerly gales are experienced in the lat autunm and through the winter, and the roadstead gives but an uncomfortable, thongh safe, anchorage for steamers. The pressing need is a good water supply. There is a good club. The races take place towards the end of September. Chefoo is two days' journey from Shanghai, and in the summer tourist tickets from Shanghai and return are issued by the Indo-China Steam Navigation Company, the China Mer- chants S. N. Company, the China Navigation Company and the Russian East Asiatic Steamship Company, Regular Steamship communication with the port is also maintained by the Nippon Yusen Kaisha and the Osaka Shosen Kaisha. In 1876 the Chefoo Convention was concluded at Chefoo by the late Sir Thomas Wade and the former Viceroy of Chihli, Li Hung-chang. An enterprise has been recently established by a Wine Company of substantial standing; the soil of the locality lends itself to such an industry and the future success of the proprietors of the first Far Eastern wine growing concern is a matter of considerable interest. Chefoo is noted for its large and increasing fruit growing industry, supplying Shanghai, Vladivostock, Kobe and other Eastern ports with foreign fruits, which grow well with care and attention in that part of Shantung-the native fruit growers having received foreign instruction, so that which was at first a hobby is now a paying industry. Other very important industries are the manufacture of foreign silk and hand-made silk laces, which in the hands of foreigners promise to assume large proportions. Silk thread and silk twist are largely made and exported from here to France, Germany and America. Chefoo uses a large percentage of the cocoons from Corea and Manchuria which come to China. Chefoo was in 1900 connected by telegraph cables with Tientsin, Port Arthur, Weihaiwei, Tsingtau and Shanghai. A newspaper in English, the Daily News, began publication in May, 1904.

The trade of Chefoo, which is increasing, is principally in Beancake and Beans, of which large quantities are annually exported to the southern ports of China. In 1965 the net export of Beancake amounted to 1,233,180 piculs, as against 1,117,658 piculs in 1904, 1,192,948 piculs in 1903 and 1,227,705 piculs in 1902. Silk, Strawbraid, Ground-nuts, and Vermicelli are the other chief exports. The import of Opium was 440 piculs of Indian brands, as Manchurian supplies were stopped by the war. There is a steady consumption of the native drug, but the trade in foreign is unimportant. The net value of the trade of the port for 1905, after deducting re-exports, was Tls. 39,131,384, as compared with Tls. 34,255,175 in 1904.

Chefoo is much in need of railway communication as well as improvements in the harbour, and both of these undertakings are under contemplation by Chinese capita- lists. These improvements, in the estimation of business men, will greatly develop the importance of Chefoo as a trade centre. An extensive work known as the Chefoo City Bund and Reclamation Scheme is expected to greatly improve the port, and if present intentions are fulfilled, the first model town under native jurisdiction will arise on the reclaimed land. A mole is also under consideration. The Commissioner of Customs. reported, February, 1906, that these works were at a standstill, owing to a disagreement

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