Directory_and_Chronicle_1936 — Page 392

A12

CHINA

itself connected with that ocean port by rail: an illustration of the rapid changes being brought about in the matter of lines of communication in this country. Still another railway is under construction in the Wuhu neighbour- hood. It has been styled the Hwaiyuan-Yukikow line, and runs from Hwaiyuan through Hofei and the Huai-nan and Tatung coal-fields to Yukiko on the north bank of the Yangtze opposite Wuhu. A branch line from Cheng- yangkuan to Pengpu on the Tientsin-Pukow Railway is also being built at the present time. Farther north, remarkable progress has been witnessed during the year in the construction of the Tatung-Puchow Railway, which traverses Shansi from the northern to the southern limits of that province. This brief summary of some of the year's accomplishments in the matter of railway construction should not be closed without reference to the fact that arrangements have at last been made for completing the unfinished section, between Tsaongo and Zakow, of the Shanghai-Hangchow-Ningpo line. The great stumbling-block to the completion of this railway was the cost of bridg- ing the Ts'ao-o and the Ch'ient' ang Rivers. Work on the Ch'ient' ang bridge was actually commenced in November. It will consist of 16 spans, each 200 feet long, and is to carry both the highway and the railway across the river. All this constructional progress, happily, has been accompanied by administrative progress, and the financial and credit positions of the railways have been noticeably strengthened during the year under review, as evidenced by the much higher quotations now ruling for Chinese railway bonds in the stock markets of the world.

ROADS

Progress in road construction throughout this country has been even more spectacular than the advance in railway construction, as the last few issues of these reports will show. According to statistics furnished by the Highways Section of the National Economic Council, there are now 26.447 kilometres of highway open to traffic in the eight provinces of Kiangsu. Chekiang. Anhwei, Kiangsi, Hupeh, Hunan, Honan, and Fukien. Statistics for the whole country, which would indicate the rate of progress still more impressively, are not vet available. Deducting the figures for Fukien, which were not included in the seven-province total quoted in the last report, the remarkable increase of 12.849 kilometres of roadway (more than the total length of highways completed up to the end of 1933) is recorded for the year under review. Of the 26,447 kilometres of highway now in use, 12,262 kilometres are surfaced and 14,185 kilometres mud roads. An additional 5,622 kilometres were actually under construction at the end of the year. Comments on regional progress have been given already in the port reviews, where the receipt of authoritative information seemed to justify such remarks. Of special interest to those acquainted with the Yangtze River ports will be the fact that the motor road from Hankow to Ichang was completed during the year. This route is covered by bus in about 13 hours, as against the up-river steamer trip of some four to five days according to the season of the year. It would also appear that this Yangtze port of Ichang can now be reached by motor highway from Shanghai via Changsha, Changteh, and Shasi. From Changsha it is reported that, with the completion of the road from Ichang (a town on the southern boundary of Hunan, not the Yangtze port afore-mentioned) to Hsiaotang, through motor traffic from Shanghai via Changsha to Canton was established. Other points of interest are too numerous to repeat here, and it may be noted that the reviews referred to cover only regions in which Maritime Customs establishments are situated; they take no notice of constructional work com- pleted or planned by the Government with a view to facilitating trade and transport in the less accessible areas of the country, a problem to which great attention is now being paid..