Directory_and_Chronicle_1925 — Page 773

LUNGKOW

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Lungkow, a sub-station under the Chefoo Customs Commissioner, was de- clared a trading port in November, 1914, but was not formally opened until 1st November, 1915. It is about 60 miles due west of Chefoo, on the west coast of the Shantung promontory. It lies about 100 miles south-west of the Japanese port, Dairen, and is the nearest port to the rich Manchurian provinces. Newchwang and Tientsin are each about 200 miles distant from Lungkow.

The port is well sheltered by the Chimatao Peninsula, and is the most northern one in China proper open to the sea throughout the year, though the Harbour is some- times partly frozen over, greatly handicapping the movements of the clumsy cargo boats. This generally happens in January. The harbour of Lungkow (Dragon's Mouth) is seven miles wide at the entrance, and has a sand bar which forms a break- water for five miles across the opening. The inner harbour has a low-water mark of from 11 to 13 feet and storms seldom disturb the shipping inside. It is not to be expected that the Chinese Government will, for many years at least, undertake extensive harbour improvements at Lungkow; but, as it is, the inner harbour has accommodation for a great deal of shipping and, as its bottom is of clay, not sand, a considerable increase in the depth of water available is expected to be brought about by dredging operations. Until such time as recognition of its favourable geographical situation forces the bestowal of increased communications, together with harbour improvements similar to those at Chefoo, any increase of trade will be slow and must come from an increase in exports and a gradual elevation of the scale of living with an attendant increase ir imports. A handsome new reinforced concrete pier at the proposed New Settlement has been completed, but has never been used because no roads have been laid to it; nor is there any early likelihood of the town extending northwards to any great extent, but rather southwards. This tendency has been specially marked during 1924. A godown has been erected near the pier for the storage of cargo. An electric light works, long anticipated, is now a fact, but it will be some time before its shareholders can expect a dividend.

The town of Lungkow has a population of 5,600. It is estimated that within a radius of about five miles of Lungkow there is a population of 65,000. A level stretch of country behind Lungkow, thickly populated and very fertile, gives promise of the port some day assuming considerable importance. The proposed Chefoo-Weihsien Railway would connect Lungkow with both Chefoo and Weihsien, thus with north and central Shantung. It is thought that the Weihsien-Lungkow-Chefoo motor highway, now completed, may be converted into a railway in the near future and this idea is responsible for the present building activity. In the meantime, this new road brings more trade to the port, although closed to traffic in wet weather, the rainy season being July and August. The road, however is now managed by a merchant company, as a result of which branch lines are opening up and the transport of mails and cargo has commenced to an appreciable extent. The value of land is rising rapidly, and two- storey houses are becoming a common feature of the old town. The beach and isthmus of Lungkow are of a loose drifting sand, which, in stormy weather, coupled with dust from the numerous coal supply depots on all sides, mar what otherwise might easily become a seaside resort for those whose work is in the near neighbourhood. The climate is cooler than that of Chefoo.

The opening of this port to foreign trade was due to overtures made to the Chinese Government by Japan. There is a large passenger trade between Shantung Province and Manchuria. Between 10,000 and 50,000 Shantung natives migrate to Manchuria each year for the summer crops, returning again in the autumn or early winter. At present the bulk of this traffic goes from Chefoo and Tsingtao. As Dairen is about 120 miles from Lungkow, it will be possible to divert much of this passenger traffic to Lungkow, where Japanese steamers will probably be prepared to take it at a lower