Directory_and_Chronicle_1941 — Page 687

WUCHO W

州梧

Wủ châu

Wuchow, opened to foreign trade on June 4th, 1897, by the Special Article of the Burmah Convention, is situated on the Sikiang or West River at its junction with the Fu or Kuei (Cassia) River. By the steamer routes at present authorised it is distant about 220 miles from Hongkong and Canton. Wuchow is the limit of navigation for ocean-going steamers; but, during eight months in the year, vessels drawing not more than 3 feet can reach Kueihsien (150 miles beyond Wuchow), and Nanning (360 miles from here) can be reached almost all the year round by boats drawing 2 ft. The population of the city, according to a recent census taken by the local Police Authorities, is 82,349. The annual inundations caused by the rise in the river - there is an average difference of 60 feet between the winter and summer levels are a scoure of great inconvenience to the inhabitants and at times bring about a total cessation of business. To obviate this, the principal steamship offices, the Custom House and Tax Office are located on pais (houses built on pontoons), moored alongside the river bank. In July, 1924, Wuchow was visited by a very high flood-73 feet 9 inches--which is the second highest on record. The highest record-79 feet 6 inches-occurred in 1915. In winter the only local industry worthy of mention is boat building; when the river falls the foreshore is lined with matsheds, where native craft of all descriptions are constructed. The situation of Wuchow makes it the natural distributing centre for the trade between Kweichow, Eastern Yunnan, Kwangsi, and Hongkong and Canton. The future is full of promise, and Wuchow is sure to make a bold bid for second place as the largest trade market in the south of China. Local merchants are making strenuous efforts to divert to Wuchow, via the Liuchow and West Rivers, the trade of south-eastern Kweichow, which is principally supplied via the Yangtsze. Attempts are being made to work the manganese gold, antimony, copper, and tin mines which abound in the Kwangsi Province.

The Kwangsi Provincial Government were able to extend their system of modern highways considerably. The whole province can now be traversed from the vicinity of Wuchow by motor car north-westwards into Kweichow, the capital of which province (Kweiyang) can be reached in some 24 hours as against the many weeks which such a journey would have occupied in the days before motor highways came into existence. Owing to the barrier formed by the West River, the road system terminates at Yunghu-about 14 kilometres above Wuchow- instead of at Wuchow itself; but a launch service connects these two places and, from the former town, almost any important city in the province can now be reached by car. Due, however, to the destruction of roads south of the West River towards the Kwangtung border, Wuchow has been cut off, since the latter part of the year, from any direct motor traffic with other parts of the province. The air-service connecting Chungking with Hongkong undertaken by the China National Aviation Corporation, formerly making Wuchow as a port of call, has been suspended and is not yet resumed. The construction of the Siang-Kwei Railway, of a total length of 545 milometres, connecting Hengchow in Hunan witli Kweilin in this province, was completed early in September. Although it has been severely bombed on several occasions, a train service has been maintained with fair regularity.

TRADE IN 1939

Conditions in Wuchow during the year were far from normal, and trade was very adversely affected by lack of communications, hostilities, and frequent air-raids on many towns in the province of Kwangsi which resulted in much loss of life and damage to property. With the closing of the West River towarns the end of 1938 Wuchow had no direct communication with foreign placesand had to depend on the overlandroute from Indo-China via Lungcliow and Nanning for the supply of neces- sary foreign imports and the exportation of native commodities abroad. Goods sent by this route were carried by motor-truck and either imported or exported through the Lungchow Customs and, therefore, did not appear in the Wuchow statistics for

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