Directory_and_Chronicle_1941 — Page 629

FOOCHOW

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The attention of foreigners was early attracted to Foochow as a likely place where commercial intercourse could be profitably carried on in the ship- ment of Bohea Tea, which is grown largely in the locality. Before the port was opened, this article used to be carried overland to Canton for shipment, a journey which was both long and difficult. The East India Company, as early as 1830, made representations in favour of the opening of the port, but nothing definite was done till the conclusion of the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. The early years of intercourse with the Chinese were anything but what was anticipated. The navigation of the river was difficult, there was no market for imports, and several attacks by the populace rendered the port an undesirable place of residence for some time. It was not until some ten years after the port had been opened that there was much done in the export of tea from the interior, but after the quantity shipped increased largely, and and Foochow became one of the principal tea ports in China. From 1880, however, when the tea trade of the port reached its highest figure, the prosperity of the place has gradually waned.

The city is built around three hills, and the circuit of what used to be the walled portion is between six and seven miles in length. The walls were about thirty feet high and twelve feet wide at the top. The streets were narrow and filthy, but during recent years remarkable improvements have been carried out, the walls being torn down and replaced by a wide motor road, the narrow streets have been widened to permit motor traffic. Motor roads have been built and motor buses connect Foochow City with Nantai, Mamoi (Pagoda), and Amoy. Highways from Foochow to Kienow (on the Upper Min River), and to Sienyon, Taitien, Tehwa and Yungan, an thence to Changting (West Fukien), have been constructed. The means of communication between Foo- chow and important districts in North, South and West Fukien is fairly easy. Kienow is connected by motor road and bus services with the Che- kiang road system while Changting and Shaowu (North Fukien) are con- nected with the Kiangsi road systems.

The climate of Foochow is mild for about nine months of the year, but in the summer, it is trying, the range of the thermometer then being from 74 deg. Fahr. to 98 deg. Spring is the wet season, but typhoons lead to rain in the summer and autumn also, and frequent local cyclonic disturbances make it a somewhat damp climate at most times of the

year.

The scenery surrounding Foochow is very beautiful. In sailing up the Min River from the sea, vessels have to leave the wide stream and enter what is called the Kimpai Pass, which is barely half a mile across, and enclosed as it is by bold, rocky walls, it presents a very striking appearance. The Pass of Min-ngan is narrower, and with its towering cliffs, surmounted by fortifications and cultivated terraces, is extremely picturesque, and has been compared to some of the scenes on the Rhine. The Yung Fu, a tributary of the Min, also affords some charming scenery, the hills rising very abruptly from the river bank. The Min Monastery, the Moon Temple and the Kushan Monastery, all occupying most romantic and beautiful sites, are fine specimens of Chinese religious edifices, and are much resorted to by visitors. Game abounds in all the ravines and mountains in the vicinity of Foochow, while tigers and panthers are common in the more remote hills, and some of these beasts have been killed within ten miles of the city.

The population of Foochow, comprising Foochow City and the suburbs of Vantai on the banks of the Min River, amounted to 357,790 persons according to police census of July, 1935, but has diminished since the outbreak of Sino- Japanese hostilities in July, 1937. What with removal of government organs and what with fear of Japanese imminent attack, more than a hundred thousand people have evacuated the city.

The trade of Foochow is on the decline. Generally speaking, business is in a state of stagnation which has been caused by disturbed political and financial conditions. The shipping business of British and other foreign companies, is, however, thriving very well. As Chinese and Japanese steamers