Directory_and_Chronicle_1932 — Page 574

CHEFOO

罘之 Chi-fu 臺烟

Yen-tai

Chefoo, in the Province of Shantung, is the name used by foreigners to denote this Treaty Port; the Chinese name of the place is Yentai, and Chefoo proper is on the opposite side of the harbour. Chefoo is situated in latitude 37° 33′ 20′′ N. and longi- tude 121° 25′ 02′′ E. The port was opened to foreign trade in 1863. In 1876 the Chefoo Convention was concluded at Chefoo by the late Sir Thomas Wade and the former Viceroy of Chihli, Li Hung-chang. The normal foreign population of Chefoo is about 1,000, while the Chinese population is about 100,000. Chefoo has no Settlement or Concessions, but a recognized Foreign Quarter, which is well kept and has good clean roads, and is well lighted. From the early days of the port a foreign "Road Committee" administered the Municipal affairs of the Foreign Quarter being succeeded in 1910 by an International Committee of six foreigners and six Chinese. The Interna- tional Committee was however wound up in 1930 and the Foreign Quarter is now administered by the Chinese Authorities in the same way as the rest of the town. There is a good club. There are two good hotels and several excellent boarding houses, all of which are full of visitors from July to the end of September. The climate is bracing. The winter, which is severe, lasts from the beginning of December to the end of March; April, May and June are lovely months and not hot; July and August are hot and rainy months; and September, October and November form a most perfect autumn, with warm days, cool winds and cold nights. Strong northerly gales are experienced in the late autumn and through the winter, and the roadstead gives but an uncomfort- able, though safe anchorage for steamers. In 1909 nearly two months were lost to trade through stress of weather. The Netherlands Harbour Works Co. started the construction of a breakwater in 1915. Further harbour improvement works were completed in 1921, the new breakwater, mole and quay being formally inaugurated on September 14th, 1921. The break water is 2,600 feet long, the height from the base of the foundation mound to the top of the parapet is 51 feet, and the width of the base of the foundation mound ranges from 117 feet to 133 feet. A railway track has been laid over the mole. In September, 1921, great damage was done to the Bund along the east beach by a storm of unusual violence accompanied by spring tides.

It was always intended that the Chefoo-Huanghsien-Weihsien railway should proceed pari passu with the breakwater. The outbreak of war, however, brought negotiations to a standstill. Another pressing need in Chefoo is a good water supply. The Chefoo-Weihsien motor road was opened to traffic in 1923 and, although very unsatisfactorily metalled, is nevertheless very popular.

An enterprise was established a few years ago by a wine company of sub- stantial standing; the soil of the locality lends itself to such an industry. Chefoo is noted for its large and increasing fruit-growing industry, supplying Shanghai, Vladivostock, Kobe and other Eastern ports with foreign fruits, which grow well with care and attention in that part of Shantung-the native fruit-growers having received foreign instruction-so that which was at first a hobby is now a paying industry. Other very important industries are the manufacture of foreign silk and hand-made. silk laces, which in the hands of foreigners promise to assume large proportions. Silk thread and silk twist are largely made and exported from here to France and America. Chefoo uses a large percentage of the cocoons from Korea and Manchuria that come to China. The port was connected in 1900 by. telegraph cables with Tientsin, Port Arthur, Weihaiwei, Tsingtao and Shanghai.

TRADE IN 1930.

As in the past few years, writes Mr. H. D. Hilliard in his report on the year 1930, Chefoo suffered from the causes of political uneasiness, increased taxation, and insecurity of communications, but, trade was, despite all handi- caps, satisfactory, and Chefoo enjoyed comparative peace under the firm