Directory_and_Chronicle_1929 — Page 717

LUNGKOW-WEIHAIWEI

651

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 rate to Dairen than would be possible from Chefoo or Tsingtao, especially if a railway were constructed connecting Lungkow with Weihsien.

The trade of the port coming under the cognizance of the Maritime Customs. amounted to Hk. Tls. 11,803,880 in 1927, as compared with Hk. Tls. 9,748,196 in 1926, and Hk. Tls. 7,812,349 in 1925. The principal staple of the port is vermicelli, the local brand being, in the estimation of Chinese consumers, supreme in quality. The export of this commodity has risen from 31,000 piculs in 1917 to 262,000 piculs in 1927.

DIRECTORY

BRITISH-AMERICAN TOBACCO (CHINA), LTD. !

-Tel. Ad: Powhattan

CUSTOMS, CHINESE MARITIME

Deputy Commissioner - T. Jissoji

Chinese Assist.-Hung Chang Chien Clerk-Jên Chin Ming

Boat Officer-J. Lovelock

Examiner A. Simões Tidewaiters-Tsao E Tsun and Chang

Chien Yung

ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSION

Rev. L. M. Frederic

STANDARD OIL CO.

WEIHAIWEI

衞海威 Weihaiwei

Weihaiwei is situated on the south side of the Gulf of Pechili near the extremity of the Shantung Promontory, and about 115 miles distant from Port Arthur on the north-west and the same from the port of Kiaochau on the south-west. Formerly a strongly-fortified Chinese naval station, it was captured by the Japanese on 30th January, 1895, and was held by them pending the payment of the indemnity, which was finally liquidated in 1898. Before the evacuation by the Japanese an agreement was arrived at between Great Britain and China that the former should take over the territory on lease from the latter, and, accordingly, on the 24th May, 1898, the British flag was formally hoisted, the Commissioners representing their respective countries at the ceremony being Consul Hopkins, of Chiefoo, and Captain King-Hall, of H.M.S. Narcissus, for Great Britain, and Taotai Yen and Captain Lin, of the Chinese war vessel Foochi, for China. Weihaiwei was leased to Great Britain "for so long a period as Port Arthur shall remain in the occupation of Russia," and was regarded by the British Government as a sanatorium for the British squadron on the China station. At the Washington Conference in 1921 Great Britain offered to return the territory to China, and during the latter part of 1922 an Anglo-Chinese Commission met to deal with the questions arising out of this. These questions included arrangements for the use of the port by the British Fleet as a summer station, provisions for the safety of foreign residents, and the representation of foreign residents in the administration of the territory. Towards the end of 1924 the Chinese and British plenipotentiaries arrived at a complete agreement regarding the terms of rendition, but the Convention, which was almost ready for signature when General Feng Yü-hsiang brought about a coup d'état in Peking in November of that year, has since remained in abeyance, owing to the absence of a responsible settled Government in China.

The leased territory, which lies in latitude 37 deg. 30 min. N., longitude 122 deg. 10 min. E., comprises the Island of Liu Kung, all the islands in the Bay of Weihaiwei, and a belt of land 10 English miles wide along the entire coastline, and consists of ranges of