Directory_and_Chronicle_1921 — Page 1038

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TENGYUEH-SZEMAO

that neither is really suitable for railway construction. Considering the almost insur- mountable physical difficulties presented and the colossal expenditure which would be involved, the practicability, viewed commercially, of such a scheme may well be questioned."

Owing to its elevation (5,400 feet) the climate of Tengyueh is temperate and health- ier than in any of the valleys in the vicinity, which are rendered excessively unhealthy by malignant forms of malarial fever. Malaria is, however, very prevalent in the town itself during the rains, when mosquitoes are plentiful and when the general health of the place is poor. The average yearly rainfall is about 65 inches, most of which falls from June to September, when the incessant dampness is somewhat trying. The net value of the trade during 1919, as taken cognizance of by the Maritime Customs, was Hk. Tls. 5,534,646 as compared with Hk. Tls. 3,952,883 in 1918, Hk. Tls. 2,996,910 in 1917, Hk. Tls. 2,340,046 in 1916, and Hk. Tls. 3,132,075 in 1913. The principal local industry is the manufacture of jadestone ornaments.

DIRECTORY

CHINESE FIRST CLASS POST OFFICE

First Class Postmaster-Wu Shao-

t'ing

CHINESE CUSTOMS

Acting Commissioner-H. G. Fletcher Asst.-E. G. Smith

Asst.Examiner (A)—S. F. McGrath 3rd Class Tide waiter-T. Dawson Medical Officer-Nihab Chanl

CONSULATE GREAT BRITAIN-Tel, Ad:

Britain

Consul-O. R. Coales

SZEMAO

茅恩 Sz-máu

Szemao, opened to the Tonkin frontier trade by the Gérard Convention of 1895 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 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 seldom falling below 50 degrees in the winter months. The plague, such a coinmon 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, from the French Laos frontier 6 days, and from British territory about 12 days. It was opened in the early part of 1897, and so far has not fulfilled the expectation of its potential importance as a trading centre. The value of the trade of Szemao in 1919 was Hk. Tls. 222,334, as compared with Hk. Tls. 240,187 in 1918, Hk. Tls. 265,008 in 1917, Hk. Tls. 184,175 in 1916, and Hk. Tls. 207,351 in 1915. The smallness of the trade statistics has been attri- buted partly to the fact that, owing to the various routes in the neighbourhood of the port, effective supervision is difficult of attainment, and partly to the declining of the cotton trade-the staple import article at this port-experienced during the last three or four years. It must be remembered, also, that the above figures only re- present the value of that portion of the Szemao trade coming under the cognizance of the Szemao Customs, that is to say, goods imported or exported across the frontiers of Burmah and Tonkin and which alone are classed as foreign trade" of this port.

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