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 Association, 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 Engineering and Mining Company, Ltd. (now amalgamated with the Lanchow Mining Company under the title of The Kailan Mining Administration). It serves primarily as a port of ship- ment for Kaiping coal.
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
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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 Chinwang tao 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 1939
With the situation more stabilised and the surrounding district free from bandit or guerrilla activities, the port of Chinwangtao enjoyed a quiet year. Weather conditions were not, however, altogether satisfactory, and the year's crops fell below expectations. Local shortage naturally affected the cost of staple commodities, but currency instability and the flood in Central Hopeh were more potent factors contributing to the high cost of living, food stortage, in fact, bordering on a state of famine in several outlying districts and rendering necessary relief work by the authorities. Notwithstanding, Chinwangtao continued to benefit from its harbour conveniences, an unprecedently high record also being maintained by inward rail- borne traffic through Shanhaikwan, this latter, in fact. being responsible for the major part of the total value of the import trade. During the year under review, Federated Reserve Bank notes were the sole currency in circulation, their fluctuation
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