Directory_and_Chronicle_1937 — Page 1201

HAIPHONG

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Haiphong proper is in the midst of an extensive rice swamp with low-lying swampy and all around it for miles, having in the distance the monotony relieved by ruggec ranges of low limestone hills, and beyond these to the northward, at a distancd of some 16 miles, is a range of mountains, the loftiest, known as the "Tooth of Nam Mâu" being about 3,500 feet (1068 metres) high. Though at the time of its origin in 1884 Haiphong was but a mere native village in the midst of rice fields and muddy streams, it has rapidly developed into the most important commercial and industrial centre of Tonkin and the port for all home and foreign traffic. Being a new town, it has been built according to modern ideas. The streets and boulevards are wide, clean and well-shaded, and constructed for the most part at right angles. The town has a cosy and pleasing appearance, most of the houses being of the cottage type. The chief commercial and administrative buildings are the Central Post Office, City Hall, Banque Franco Chinoise, Banque de l'Indochine, Municipal Theatre, and Cus- tom-house. There is a Roman Catholic Cathedral attached to the Spanish Mission, and a Protestant church, also, has been erected in the town. There is a very prett theatre, built in 1900 by the Municipality. The Hôtel du Commerce is a large and handsome structure, its lofty mansard roof dominating every building in the town. The Cercle du Cominerce, which is a well-managed club, has its domicile in the boulevard Paul Bert. The racecourse is about a mile from the town on the Dơ Son Road. The year 1922 saw the opening of the "Cercle Sportif Haiphonnais," with a large and handsome building and extensive grounds for all forms of sport.

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Haiphong has two public gardens, where military concerts are given on Sundays and Thursdays. The small Botanical Garden of the Lach Tray, two miles out of town, is one of the evening promenades.

The appearance of this city, agreeably disposed among trees and tropical vegeta- tion, appeals to the eye of the traveller arriving by sea on a sunny day.

The city, originally comprised within the Cua-Cam and Song-Tam Bac rivers and the Bonnal canal, soon spread beyond these narrow limits owing to the development of its commerce and industry, foreign and indigenous. The principal industrial concerns are cement works (whose products are known all over the Far East), cotton mills, rice inills, brick, tile and ceramic factories, foundries, shipbuilding yards, and an important factory (opened in the beginning of 1922) for the making of all sorts of chemical products.

The total population is about 80,000.

Haiphong is connected with Hanoi by rail, passenger-trains running five times a day each way, and is in communication by landline with Saigon and by radio with Hongkong. Haiphong is also conneeted by a macadamised road of 22 Km. (about 14 miles) with the nice beach of Doson (Dâù-Són in native language), where come to rest, during the hot season, numerous European families of the Protectorate and, too, rich native people.

Haiphong, at last, is the point of starting for all trips in the neighbouring coal regions of Hongay and, by sea as well as by overland, throw the famous

'Along Bay".

It must be noticed that the town of Haiphong has been given up to France in whole property by the King of Annam and that, therefore, the city is administrated, like in France, by a French Mayor assisted by a "municipal council" the only difference being that the Mayor is an "Administrator of Civil service" of a high grade, designated by the General Governor, instead of being an "elected citizen".