Directory_and_Chronicle_1936 — Page 887

HOIHOW (IN HAINAN ISLAND)

州瓊

Kiung-chau 口 海 Hoi-hau

Hoihow is the seaport of the prefectural city of Kiungchow, the capital of the Island of Hainan. The two towns are separated by a distance of some three miles of low hills dotted with graves; and across these lies a semi-macadamised road. This highway was originally constructed by the Kiungchow Horse Carriage Co. in 1915, it was considerably improved by General Lung Chi-kwang during his rule over Hainan in the middle of 1918, and was kept in good repair by several motor Car Cos. which maintained a continuous motor car service between the two towns. miles of motor road open to traffic connecting Hoihow with Wenchang, Chingmai, Tingan, Kachek, and Chuenyai, and at one time nearly 900 cars, buses and trucks were running our the Island. More new roads are expected to be opened for traffic in the near future. A new bund running along the Hoihow river on the northern part of the town, 60 feet wide, was built in 1924 and the principal streets were widened so as to permit motor traffic. Hoihow is lighted by electricity and possesses a telephone system of its own but since February, 1925, the Island has been occupied by Cantonese troops and many projected improvements have not been carried out owing to general unsettled conditions.

The port of Hoihow was opened by the establishment of a branch of the Chinese Maritime Customs in April, 1876, During the latter nine months of that year foreign tonnage to the extent of 36,672 tons entered and cleared at the Custom House, this representing 54 British, 10 German, 2 French and 4 Danish steamers that entered from, and cleared for, Singapore, Bangkok, Saigon, Annam, Hongkong, etc. The situation of the port of Hoihow before and at its opening in 1876 was considered favourable more from the political than the geographical or topographical point of view as the Foreign Consuls at Hoihow would then be in close touch with the Taotai at Kiungchow.

望

}

·

I

The harbour of Hoihow is an open roadstead, unprotected against the North-east monsoon, which blows here with undisturbed vigour from September to April, The working of cargo is, therefore, normally difficult during those months, and at times im- possible. In addition to the above disadvantages those months are also the dry months when no rain falls up-country, and consequently no water comes down by the Po Chung River to the sea. Again, the tides are more erratic in the winter than they are in the summer: sometimes there are two tides during the 24 hours, sometimes, one, and sometimes none. Cargo then, having been loaded with difficulty into a cargo boat alongside the importing steamer, has to face a stormy passage of two to there miles to the spit, which runs parallel to the town of Hoihow and a mile distant from it. Once at the spit the cargo-boat may be able to pole up the two miles of shallow muddy water which separates it from Hoihow. If a canal 7 feet deep and 300 feet wide were dredged on the Hoihow river between the neighbourhood of the Custom House and the spit, thus permitting junks, cargo boats and motor launches to navigate at all tides, it would be sufficient to meet present requirements of the trade and would not be an expensive undertaking. A new jetty for the use of the passenger traffic of the port is nearing completion. This jetty, some 400 to 500 feet in length, is situated in the vicinity of the Harbour Light station and will be approachable at all states of tide. Two motor-boats to be used in landing and embarking passengers are now under construction. Several suggestions have been made for the improvement of the port of Hoihow and some even advocated the transfer of the port to Chinglan or Pochin but all these suggestions were impracticable both from the engineering and from the financial points of view. Chinglan, for instance, which has been much spoken of in the past, is situated on the East Coast, which, though not properly surveyed, is known to be lined with coral reefs and is much exposed to typhoons and S.W. mon- soons in the Summer months. And it is far more expensive to open a new port than to improve an old established one, without taking into consideration the opposition such a change would create from local vested interests. Hoihow will therefore remain

*A27