Directory_and_Chronicle_1936 — Page 473

PEI-TAI-HO AND CHINWANGTAO

Peitaiho continues to expand. There are now five associations, namely, Rocky Point Association, East Cliff Association, Temple Bay Association, Lighthouse Point Assocaintion, and the Kung I Hui. An endeavour is being made to arrive at some kind of co-operation between these various sections, whose interests are common, The first desideratum is a Sanitary Department serving the whole district comprised in the term "Peitaiho Beach." The next necessity is to form some general advisory committee, obviating the necessity of so many diverse forms of control. Voluntary service will have to be replaced by expert advisers, and how to meet this expenditure is a matter for consultation between the four associations and the Kung I Hui. The Kung I Hui is a body of Chinese gentlemen mostly with large local interests: it is registered in the Ministry of Communications as a definite working organisation and has a legal and, to a certain extent, judicial status. It has expended large sums of money in making excellent roads, lined with trees, and intends to throw the whole of the Lotus Hills open as a public park.

Chinwangtao owes its existence as a seaport to the Chinese Engineeering and Mining Company, Ltd. (now amalagamated with the Lanchow Mining Company under the little of The Kailan Mining Administration). It serves primarily as a port of ship- ment for Kaiping coal.

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Chinwangtao is situated on the western coast of the Gulf of Liao and is distant about 10 miles W.S.W. of Shanhaikwan. The break water pier forming the harbour are so constructed that vessels may lie alongside at any state of the tide and in all weathers, discharging from or loading directly into railway cars, so that there is the minimum of handling and loss by breakage. The Administration owns large areas of land in the vicinity of the port. A good harbour, good water, electric light, and cheap coal offer exceptional inducements for industrial enterprises, and it is expected that there will be a great development in this direction.

The Port of Chinwangtao is accessible throughout the year, and as a seaside health resort Chinwangtao is almost without rival in China. It is easily accessible, has a dry and bracing climate, offers safe bathing from a sandy beach, has good golf links, and is situated amidst magnificent mountain scenery, while a Rest House and numerous summer bungalows afford the visitor every comfort. Extensive improvements in the port were made during 1929 A portion of the lagoon has been reclaimed for the extension of the coal-yard A school for the benefit of the children of the Kailan Mining Administration's employees has been built, as well as additional quarters for the staff; and a new power-house to meet the requirements of the Yao Hua Glassworks, as well as those of the Administration, was completed towards the end of the year.

The Yao Hua Mechanical Glass Company have a glass factory at Chinwangtao. The establishment, which covers about 110 mou of land, is one of the largest of its kind in existence. The capital of the Company is $2,500,000.

TRADE IN 1934.

After what the district experienced during the Sino-Japanese hostilities and the subsequent bandit disturbances in 1933, the withdrawal of the Jap- anese forces to the Great Wali during the year under review, and the sup- pression of the irregular troops and bandits by the special police maintained in the Luanyu area in accordance with the Tangku Truce Agreement brought a reassuring sense of peace to the distressed country side from which the port of Chinwangtao derives its trade. With the retrocession of the town of Shan- haikwan, which took place on the 10th February, the feeling of unrest amongst the population wore off and the fear that further fighting might