Directory_and_Chronicle_1938 — Page 485

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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 coinmon, 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, largeon 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.

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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 breakwater and pier forniing 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.

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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 1936.

Considering the political vicissitudes which marked the closing months of 1935 with the establishment of the so-called "autonomous regime in Eastern Hopeh," it was fortunate that the year 1936 passed at Chinwangtao without more serious repercussions. Towards the end of May the landing at Chinwangtao, and subsequent despatch to Tientsin and Peiping, of some 8,000 Japanese troops caused considerable anxiety. Fears, however, of a general invasion of North China were not realised, though the uncertainty of the political situation coupled with the effects of unbridle smuggling militated against the trade of the port. At the beginning of the year trade, furthermore, was greatly handicapped by unusually serious ice conditions. along the coast, which brought shipping activities to a complete standstill. With the