Directory_and_Chronicle_1933 — Page 541

NEWCHWANG

Niu-chwang

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Ying- kou

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Newchwang, in latitude 40 deg. 37 min. 37 sec. N,, longitude 122 deg. 10 min. 23 sec. E., or 38 miles from the Newchang Lightship was opened to foreign trade in May, 1864, and was for more than 40 years the only Treaty port in Manchuria. Manchuria comprises the three Provinces of Liao Ning, Kirin and Heilungchiang, and is commonly called by the Chinese the "Tung San Sheng, or the Three Eastern Provinces. Newchwang is situated in the most southern of these three provinces-Liao Ning--and lies about 13 miles from the mouth of the Liao River, which empties into the Gulf of Liaotung, a continuation of the Gulf of Pohai. The proper name of the port is Ying- kou, and not Newchwang, which is situated 90 i (30 miles) further up the river. The old town of Newchwang was designed by Treaty to be opened to trade, but the first foreigners, finding Yingkow more convéniently situated and more adapted in every respect for the purposes of trade, quietly installed themselves there and got over the difficulty by the simple process of changing the name of Yingkow into that of Newchwang!

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The country in the immediate vicinity of the port is flat and unpictures- que in the extreme, and the town itself has nothing in the way of attractions for the traveller. The climate, from the foreigner's point of view, is one of the best in China, the summers' being comparatively cool, while the winters are cold and bracing. The hottest summer temperature rarely exceeds 90° (Fahr), but cold blasts from the North pull down the "mercury" in winter months often to 6° and 10° below zero (Fahr.). The river is generally frozen over for three months of the year, but navigation is practically suspended for four months, from December to the following March. Formerly New- chwang was shut off from the rest of the world during winter, but the advent of railways has changed all this. The Government Railways of North China, through their branch line from Koupangtzu, maintain daily communication with Tientsin, Peking and Shenyang; and the South Manchurian Railway, through its branch line from Tashihchiao, maintains daily communication with Dairen, Port Arthur, Shenyang, Tiehling and Changchun. At the last-named place the Chinese. Eastern Railway connects for Harbin and Europe by the Trans-Siberian Railway. ···

TRADE IN 1931

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In the last annual report for Newchwang it was stated that a scheme was on foot for the hire of two ice-breakers from the Haiho Conservancy open up the Liao River at an earlier date each year than has been usual in the past. This scheme was successfully put into practice in 1931, and the river was opened to traffic on the 16th March. The last steamer left the port on the 9th December-a record since 1898-and, owing to the mildness of the winter, no ice had set in the river up to the end of the year. The trade year opened under a widespread depression. The bristle trade, once flourishing, has now entirely ceased, and many failures were disclosed at the lunar New Year settling date. The value of the foreign import trade dec- lined from 21.5 million Haikwan taels in 1930 to 13.9 millions in 1931. Almost all classes of imports shared in this decline. In exports, however, trade was good. Direct exports abroad increased from 10.5 million Haikwan taels in 1930 to 29.1 millions in 1931, and produce to native ports from 32,8 million taels to 64 millions. After the fall of the yen, subsequent to its going off the gold standard, trade with Japan experienced a striking revival, and beans, beancake, coal, and sulphate of ammonia all shared in the new busi- ness that

that arose. The figures for the bean trade-the great Manchurian staple are particularly striking as an illustration of the increase in exports.