Directory_and_Chronicle_1914 — Page 1061

WENCHOW

Wan-chau

Wênchow, one of the five ports opened to foreign trade by the Chefoo Convention is the chief town in the department of Wênchow, occupying the south-east corner of Chekiang province. The city is situated on the south bank of the river Ou. about twenty miles from its mouth, in lat. 27 deg. 18 min. 4 sec. N., long. 120 deg. 38 min. 28 sec. E. The site is a well cultivated plain, bounded on all sides, but at a distance of some five miles, by lofty hills. The walls are said to have been first erected during the fourth century, and enlarged and re-built by the Emperor Hung Wu in 1385. They are formed of stone, diagonally laid at the foundation, and partly also of brick, and measure about four miles in circumference. The streets are wider, straighter, and cleaner than those of most Chinese cities. They are mostly well paved with brick and kept in careful repair by the householders. They slope down on either side to waterways, which in their turn communicate with canals intersecting the whole city. There are numerous large nunneries and temples in Wênchow. The Custom-house, outside the chief gate, known as the Shwang Mén or "Double Gate," the Taotai's Yamên, the Prefect's and other public offices in a cluster, and the Foundling Hospital, all near the centre, are the other chief buildings. The latter institution, built in 1748, contains one hundred apartments. Among the objects of greatest interest and curiosity to the stranger are two pagodas situated on "Conquest" Island, abreast of the city. They are both of great antiquity and, with the temples between, were for some time the retreat of Ti Ping, the last Emperor of the Sung dynasty, when seeking to escape from the Mongols under Kublai Khan. His Majesty Ti Ping has left behind him autographs preserved to this day in the adjoining temple. The British Consul and the Customs outdoor staff occupy for eign-built houses on the island. The estimated population of the city with its suburbs is 100,000. There were Boxer troubles in the Ping-yang district, several native Christians being murdered in 1900, and all the missionaries left Wênchow, where, however, the officials were able to maintain order. The Roman Catholic Missionaries have a spacious and imposing Cathedral in the western part of the city. The English Methodist Mission has a church capable of seating about a thousand people. In 1903 this Mission erected a fine college at a cost of $20,000, containing sleeping accommodation for over a hundred students, and teaching accommodation for more than two hundred. Early in 1906 an extensive and substantially constructed Hospital was also completed by this Mission at an outlay of fully $20.000. The building consists of a central block and two wings, after the style of Hunt's Block, Guy's Hospital, and can accommodate about two hundred patients.

There is no foreign settlement at Wênchow, and the foreign residents are a mere handful, consisting almost entirely of officials and missionaries. A considerable native export trade in tea, tobacco, wood, charcoal, and bamboos, brought down the river on rafts from Ch'u-chow exists, but manufactures do not flourish. The annual value of the trade is estimated to be about Tls. 3,000,000. The shops and yards engaged in it are situated in the west suburb, where immense quantities of bamboo and noles are kept on hand.

Considerable quantities of tea are annually exported from Wenchow, also oranges, which rank second in importance in the export" trade. The net value of the trade of the port coming under the cognizance of the Foreign Customs for 1912 was Tls. 3,749,883, as compared with Hk. Tls. 2,647,997 in 1911, Hk. Tls. 2,722,251 in 1910, Hk. Tls. 2,221,953 in 1909, and Hk. Tls_2,525,575 in 1908.

During August and September of 1912 two abnormal freshets visited the port, causing immense destruction to life and property. In the upper reaches of the main river the water rose 60 feet above normal level, washing away villages, and carrying away houses bodily. Some 30,000 people are reported to have been drowned in the Yungchia, Chingtien, Ch'uchow and Juian magistracies. Such a local calamity is unprecedented in the lifetime of any Chinese or foreigner.