Directory_and_Chronicle_1932 — Page 890

NINGPO

波

Ning-po

Ningpo is situated on the river Yung, in the province of Chekiang, in lat. 29 deg 55 min. N., and long. 121 deg. 22 min. E. It was one of the five ports thrown open to foreigners in 1842. Foreigners had, however, visited Ningpo at an early date. Portuguese traded there in 1522; a number of them settled in the place in that and succeeding years, and there was every prospect of a rising and successful settlement soon being established. But the lawless acts of the Portuguese soon attracted the attention of the Government, and in 1542 the Governor of Cliekiang ordered the settle- ment to be destroyed and the population to be exterminated. A large force of Chinese troops soon besieged the place, destroying it entirely, and out of a population of 1,200 Portuguese 800 were massacred. No further attempt at trade with this port was made till towards the close of the 17th century, when the East India Company established a factory at the island of Chusan, some 40 miles from Ningpo. The attempt to found a trade mart there, however, proved unsatisfactory, and the factory was abandoned after a few years' trial. The port was deserted by foreigners for inany years after that. When hostilities broke out between Great Britain and China in 1839, the fleet moved north from Canton, and on the 13th October, 1841, occupied Ningpo, and an English garrison was stationed there for some time. In March, 1842, an attempt was made by the Chinese to re-take the city, but the British artillery repulsed them with great slaughter. Ningpo was evacuated on May 7th, and, on the proclamation of peace in the following August, the port was thrown open to foreign trade. Ningpo aws captured by the Taiping rebels in December 1861. In May 1862 while Chinese Imperial troops were preparing to assault it the rebels fired on British and French Men-of-war in the port, and these forces bombarded and recaptured the city, immediately handing it over to the Chinese Imperial officials. The same foreign force shortly after gave great assistance in clearing the rebels from an area of 15 miles from Ningpo; but in the a-sault on Tze-ki (10 miles to the N.W.) General Ward, the American Commander of the "Ever-Victorious Army was mortally wounded. A monument to the British and French Naval forces killed in these actions stands on the Ningpo City Bund.

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Ningpo is built on a plain which stretches away to a considerable distance on either side. The walls of the city enclose a space of some five miles in circumference. They are built of brick, and are about 25 feet high, 15 feet wide at the summit, and 22 at the base. Access is obtained to the town by six gates. A large moat commences at the north gate and runs along the foot of the wall for about three miles on the landward side, until it stops at what is called the Bridge Gate. The main street runs from east to west. Several of the streets are spanned by arches erected in memory of distinguished natives. Ningpo has been celebrated as possessing the fourth library of Chinese works, in point of numbers, which existed in the empire. It was owned by a family who resided near the south gate. The site occupied by the foreign residences is on the north bank of the river. The population of Ningpo is estimated at 255,000. The city will eventually be connected with Shanghai and Hangchow by rail, but at present the line is completed only as far as Pakuan, east of Shaohsing.

There are a cotton mill, a match factory, an electric light company, and a local telephone company. The tea trade has fallen off owing to a deviation of the Foochow teas, which formerly passed through Ningpo but are now forwarded to Shanghai viâ Hangchow. The Ningpo Straw Hat Industry, after a lean period is showing signs of a distinct revival. The hats which are made not only from native fibres but also from high-grade materials imported from the Phillipines etc., are virtually all exported to the American and European markets. In the way of Municipal improvements a beginning has been made to demolish the city wall and replace it with broad metalled roads. A inotor road exists as far as Fenghwa, the family home of President Chiang Kai-shek, and another is being constructed to Chinhai, at the mouth of the Ningpo, or Yung, River. The net value of the trade of the port in 1930 was Hk. Tls. 53,220,203, as compared with Hk. Tls. 48,179,205 in 1929, Hk. Tls. 52.298,252 in 1928, Hk. Tls. 52,298,466 in 1927, Hk. Tls. 50,566,405 in 1926, and Hk. Tls. 46,946,041 in 1925.