CHINA
A15
capital of the province of Kiangsi, Changsha, Changteh, Kweiyang, the capital of Kweichow, and Chungking, to Chengtu, the capital of Szechwan. Or, if he chooses, he may go to Canton by motor-car from Changsha via Hengchow, or to Ichang, via Changteh and Shasi, within two days. Traffic between Changsha and Kweilin, in the northern part of Kwangsi, is also expected to be opened to public transport as soon as the road-bed is well surfaced. From Chungking and Chengtu as centres, interprovincial motor roads are under construction to Sian and Lanchow, in addition to those leading to Kweichow and Hankow. The Shanghai-Wuhu highway extends to Kintehchen. The road in the south of Fukien from Amoy to Lungyen and Changting was extended to Nanchang, while progress is being made on the Foochow to Kienou road, which, when completed, will link up the already developed road system in the west of Fukien province and will provide an alternative to the Min River as a means of communication with the interior. An important new road was completed along the coast of Shantung linking up Weihaiwei with Tsing- tao, while the year marked completion of the highway from Weihsien to Taierhchwang, which is 455 kilometres long and runs
runs through the south- eastern part of Shantung to the northern border of Kiangsu province.
COMMERCIAL AVIATION
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In last year's report there appeared, by courtesy of the China National Aviation Corporation, a resume of the progress made this air-mail and passenger service since its inception in July 1930, and it is a matter for con- gratulation to be able to record the further development made during the year under review. Adding to their service faster and more modern machines, the Corporation have increased their passenger traffic by 130 per cent. during 1935 as compared with the previous year. One of the new planes ordered, a 10- passenger Ford, was received in March and inaugurated the new Chungking— Yunnan line in April. A second new plane, a 14-passenger Douglas, was placed on regular service on the Shanghai-Peiping line via Nanking in the middle of May. Orders were placed for fast new flying boats for the Yangtze River route, and, pending arrival, two additional 10-passenger Ford planes that had been purchased, one for the Chung-Chengtu route and one as reserve, were placed on the Shanghai-Hankow line, replacing the smaller and slower Loening Amphibians. A further new Douglas machine was placed on the Shanghai Chengtu route in October. There were several increases in schedules during the year, there being now four round trips per week with Loening Amphibians on the Hankow-Chungking run, with an additional two round trips being flown by the Shanghai-Chengtu Express (Douglas). On the Chungking-Chengtu line the schedule has been increased to daily flights with Stinson planes and an additional two round trips per week by the Express. The Douglas aeroplane on the Shanghai-Peiping line now does the flight in six hours, while the Ford plane between Shanghai and Hankow does, the flight in four hours. The one-day service between Shanghai and Chengtų enables a passenger leaving Shanghai at 7 a.m. to arrive at Chengtu at 3.30 p.m. the same day. Considerable reductions have been effected in fares, ranging from 20 to 35 per cent. between various points. Arrangements have also been made to link up the China airways with the French air-line at Hanoi. The following table illustrated the rapid advance made in commercial aviation by the China National Aviation Corporation during the year 1935:-
Passenger Kilometres Flown.
Passengers Kilogrammes of
Carried.
Kilometres
Flown.
Mail Carried.
1929
93,167
106,875
354
3,932
1930
531,196
1,027,902
2,654
17,893
1931
*716,201
976,831
2,296
34,429
1932
693,842
1,247,265
3,153
50,851
1933
1,024,963
1,451,384
3.138
49,246
1934
...
1,435,460
2,553,283
5,224
58,052
1935
1,955,801
5,857,103
10,404
64,527
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