Directory_and_Chronicle_1926 — Page 623

11

PEKING

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Drainage is receiving attention and big works are in prospect. Not only have the main drains been put in order, but new ones are being constructed, and, when funds permit, Peking will be as well served in this respect as any modern city. Unfor- tunately, however, money is lacking for the immediate extension of municipal improvement. The creeks which encircle the city have been drained, and at Ch'ien Men the river has been built over by extending the railway station, thus removing that which was an eyesore to many. The Jade Canal from the Water Gate to the Imperial City Wall has now been covered over.

Since the revolution many changes, which would have been unthinkable under the Manchu régime, have taken place. A number of gates have been opened, thus facilitat- ing traffic, while the old Ch'ienmen gate has been demolished-the curtain, however, being preserved-in order to permit of road improvements. The reconstructed gateway has been completed, and the open space on the north side adds to its impressive effect. Part of the Western Wall of the Imperial City Wall has been demolished, but advantage has not yet been taken of this for improving communications in the neighbourhood. A beautiful enclosure within the Forbidden City known as the Cen- tral Park has also been opened, and residents congregate there in their hundreds and thousands during the summer months. A curio museum containing the Imperial treasures from Jehol and Mukden has been inaugurated within the Forbidden City and is proving a very popular attraction. In addition, the three Palaces-Taihodien, Chunghodien, and Paohuadien-were repaired, while the Tung Hua Men gate, which was destroyed during the revolution of 1911, has been reconstructed. Moreover, a National Library is being erected within the Forbidden City.

In order to link up the various termini, a circular railway has been constructed. This involved the demolition of the curtains of most of the gateways, a proceeding which provoked considerable adverse comment, but it must be regarded as another sacrifice of the picturesque and historical to the utilitarian. A Grand Trunk Central Station is contemplated, and when this is completed travellers will have little to com- plain of in the matter of convenience.

A tramway project has been carried out by a company financed partly by the Government and partly by private individuals. The capital is $4,000,000, and so eager were the Chinese to invest their money in the enterprise that the first public call of $500,000 was over-subscribed four times. This is an eloquent testimony to the changed outlook of the Pekingese. The opening of the system has, however, been delayed for several reasons.

In addition to opening all available gates, the authorities have constructed several new streets at considerable cost, and are giving better access to certain localities which were formerly badly served. The Imperial City Wall is now pierced in over a dozen places, and three new thoroughfares have been opened, viz., the Nan Ch'ih Tzu, the Nan Fu K'ou, and the Fu Yu Chieh, the last-mentioned providing a well-made_road alongside the western wall of the Imperial City. In 1918 the Imperial City wall was breached in front of the British Legation. Building is proceeding apace, and, now that there is no objection to structures higher than the Imperial Palace, many large edifices are being built throughout the city, but particularly near the Legation Quarter. Peking, it may be added, has a population of 1,375,634 (figures of the Ministry of the Interior) and is exceedingly well policed.

There are over 1,000 registered motor-cars in Peking, motor cycles are numerous, and bicycles are to be reckoned in thousands.