Directory_and_Chronicle_1922 — Page 1048

Directories & Chronicles 香港指南 All

974

LUNGCHOW

and from a military point of view Lungchow is considered to be a place of importance. Troops are stationed there and near the Frontier. The port was opened to Franco-Annamese trade on the 1st June, 1889, but so far the little trade may be said to have been but insignificant. It is likely to continue so until the Haiphong- Hanoi-Langson railway, which after twelve years' assiduous labour was completed early in 1902, is extended to Lungchow, or until another contemplated extension of the line enables nierchandise to be rail-borne to within easier access of water communication with Kwangsi. An extension of the Tonkin Railway line from Dong-dang to Nasham, a Tonkin mart on the Sung-chi river not very far from the Kwangsi border, will shortly be opened to traffic, and it is hoped that it will ease communications. The line from Hanoi ends abruptly in the hills a few hundred yards from the "Porte de Chine” (Namkuan) on the Tonkin-Kwangsi frontier, from which spot Lungchow is distant some 60 kilometres by road, part of which runs over rough and mountainous country of wonderful beauty and is practically impassable in bad weather. The journey from the Frontier over this road takes two days by chair, or a day and a half on horseback,. but it can easily be done in 12 or 14 hours. Native pony-carts may at times be had, but this method of locomotion is not one to be recommended except under the best of weather conditions and furthermore is only available for some two-thirds- of the journey. Telegraphic communication exists with Canton and other places. on the West River, with Mengtsz in Yunnan, via Po-sê, and with places in Tonkin. The Chinese Post Office sends daily couriers to Langson in Tonkin and couriers every second day to Nanning overland, with connections to Canton and Pakhoi. An establishment of the Chinese Maritime Customs is maintained at the port, where foreign interests are in the charge of Consuls resident on the West River and in Hongkong. France alone maintains a Consul in Lungchow, and he is also Consul for Nanning. The net value of the trade coming under the cognisance of the Maritime- Customs for 1920 was Tls. 88,722, as against Tls. 82,615 in 1919. During 1920, 402 motor- boats visited the port. The trip up from Nanning usually takes from two to three days and that down to Nanning about 30 hours, according to the water in the river, the level of which is liable to very sudden fluctuations during the prevalence of rainy weather. Motor boats carry most of the incoming cargo from and via the West River ports, whilst imports from over the frontier come by junk or raft or by carrier. The river scenery between Nanning and Lungchow with its succession of gorges is well worth seeing, but at present accommodation for Europeans ou board the distinctly Chinese-style motor-boats is non-existent. The climate of the port is damp and very hot for some eight months or more in the year, the hottest period being usually from April to July.

The chief characteristic of Lungchow is its inaccessibility, both by the existing very poor roads from the frontier and by the Tsokiang during the low-water season. Unless good stone roads are laid out and the channels of the Tsokiang improved, it is hopeless to look forward to any trade and, even, to expect any to visit a place which is really well worthy of consideration from a commercial, ethnological and topographical point of view.

Directory_and_Chronicle_1922 — Page 1048

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