Directory_and_Chronicle_1926 — Page 926

Directories & Chronicles 香港指南 All

HANGCHOW

870

A railway from the Settlement to the further end of Hangchow City neata the Ch'ien Tang river was completed in September, 1907. It was built solely by Chinese and with Chinese capital. There is now railway connection with Shanghai vid Kashing. Twenty-eight miles north of Hangchow is situated the well-known summer resort of Mokanshan. It can be reached from Shanghai by way of the railway and a motor-launch service in ten hours. There are now over 500 houses on the slope of a hill about 2,250 feet high. The scenery is magnificent and the views are very grand. Bamboo forests cover the mountain and afford shade to all the roads and clear mountain springs abound. Chairs and coolies for baggage are always available, and are under contract with the Mokanshan Association. Houses more or less completely furnished can be rented at Tls. 100 to 350 per season (four months) The Shanghai Municipality has purchased two houses as a sanatorium for its employés, and a competent nurse is in charge. The difference in temperature from the plain amounts to 10°F. in the day and 15°F. at night.

Save for the prevalence of malaria-which, however, is not of a virulent type-the climate of Hangchow is fairly salubrious. July and August are hot, the spring months are wet and raw, but the autumn is delightful, and the winter is cold and bracing. The minimum temperature recorded within the period 1912-1921 was 15.5° Fahrenheit in January, 1916, and the maximum was 104° F. in August, 1917. The mean maximum for this period was 82.8 F., the mean minimum 43.6 F., and the mean 62.4° F. Snow usually falls a few times during three months of the year. The temperate and sub- tropical zones meet in the neighbourhood, and the flora is consequently rich and varied, some 50 per cent. of the species being tropical or sub-tropical plants, while the remainder are mostly Eastern, Central or North China species. The fauna is less rich except in the case of insect life, which is very abundant. The number and variety of the fishes inhabiting the net-work of canals are surprisingly large. In conclusion, it may be interesting to note that this neighbourhood is the most northerly recorded habitat of the cobra.

Directory_and_Chronicle_1926 — Page 926

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