Directory_and_Chronicle_1930 — Page 662

606

TIENTSIN

The

Foreigners formerly lived in three concessions-British, French, and German— which fringed the river below the city and covered an area of less than 500 acres. Japanese took up a concession in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. They filled in land, laid out new streets and built a large number of houses in foreign style. During 1901 Russia, Belgium, Italy, and Austro-Hungary all appropriated large areas on the left bank of the Hai-ho as future Settlements, while the existing concessions extended their boundaries very considerably. These develop- ments have thrown all present and future landing facilities for direct sea-going traffic into foreign hands. The concessions have excellent and well-lighted roads, with an electric tramway system. The British Municipality has a handsome Town Hall, completed in 1889; adjoining there is a well-kept public garden, opened in the year of Jubilee and styled Victoria Park. Two excellent recreation grounds of 10 acres and over have been developed, in which tennis-courts, etc., have been laid out. The various British areas-known as the British Concession, British Extension, and the Extra- Mural Area-have been amalgamated to form one Municipal Area under a Council elected on a broad franchise. New land regulations have come into force, and it is stipulated therein that the new Council consist of nine members, of whom five shall be British subjects. Candidates must be nominated by two electors and all electors are eligible to serve on the Council. The minimum qualification for a foreign voter is the payment of Tls. 20 per annum in respect of land-tax or the occupation of premises of an assessed value of Tls. 480 per annum, and for Chinese the payment of Tls. 240 per annum in respect of land-tax or the occupation of premises of an assessed rental of Tls. 3,000 per annum--the discrimination between foreign and Chinese electors being intended to prevent the possibility of the foreign vote being completely swamped in an area set apart primarily for foreign residence and trade.

Upon the entry of China into the Great War in 1917 the Chinese Authorities took over the German and Austrian Concessions on the 16th March of that year. In the autumn of 1920 the local Chinese authorities assumed charge of Russian Consular functions and the policing of the Russian Concession, leaving the Municipal Council, however, to continue to function in minor municipal affairs.

A feature of Tientsin which arrests the attention of visitors is the open-air storage of cargo on the British and French Bunds, which have thus become in effect a "general godown." A great deal of confusion and congestion formerly existed from this practice, but the British Municipality has since elaborated an excellent scheme whereby the Bund is divided into numbered steamer-sections and storage-spaces, and the roadway is now kept clear of cargo. The result has more than justified expecta- tions, and the orderly storage of goods in marked-off spaces not only allows a proper control to be kept over all such cargo but has facilitated communications by keeping the carriage-way clear of obstructions.

The Racecourse is situated about 3 miles to the west of the Gordon Hall and comprises a very valuable property to which about 350 mow of land have recently been added. New betting buildings of reinforced concrete, which surpass anything of the description in the Far East, were constructed in 1921.

Distilling is one of the largest local industries; it is chiefly from kowliang (sorghum) or millet. Although a spirit, it is called "wine," and is exported to the south in large quantities. The manufacture of coarse unrefined salt by the evaporation of sea water is also carried on near Taku; the produce is stacked some distance down river at the first cutting, where all the salt junks now go. The trade in salt is a Govern- ment monopoly. There are a number of cotton mills in the vicinity of Tientsin. The yarn produced is of 14, 16, and 20 counts. Carpets, shoes, glass, coarse earthen- ware, and fireworks are also made in large quantities in the city, but Tientsin is at present essentially a centre for distribution and collection rather than for manu- facture. The exports include coal, wool (from Kokonor, Kansuh, etc.), bristles,s straw braid, goat skins, furs, wine, and carpets. The export trade is a creation only some 15 or 20 years old, and is largely due to foreign initiative. Wool cleaning and braid and bristle sorting are the chief industries in the foreign hongs except those of the Russians, who are exclusively engaged in the transit of tea. The imports are of the usual miscellaneous nature: arms, tea for the Desert and Siberia, mineral oil,li matches, and needles figure next to piece-goods. The fine arts are unknown to the Tientsinese except in the shape of cleverly-made mud-figures; these are painted and make really admirable statuettes, but are difficult to carry away, being remarkably brittle.