"Manchester of the Orient"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23157, 1 October 1938, Page 18 (Supplement)

"Manchester of the Orient"

By E. R. YARHAM, F.R.G.S.

Hankow's And Tro History

■ y (Copyright) THE great city of Hankow, the heart of China, has been much in the news lately, and as the war continues and the Japanese attack develops, it is destined to be even more so. For it is a city of enormous strategic, political and commercial" importance. Thp-Ohinese themselves say it is the mart of eight provinces and the centre of the earth. It is certainly the chief distributing centre of the . mighty Yangtze If alley; with its population of 200,000,000 souls - and its vast, trade. Hankow, in addition to its tea trade, has very ; , large textile industries and is often termed the "Manchester of Central China." It lias an unrivalled situation on the north side of the Yangtze and is normally the focal point of all Chinese trade routes. It is connected by steamer with the lower and upper Yangtze valleys, and is also the centre of a / vast junk traffic. / Picturesque Coolies Along the quays that line ,the river, coolies tramp in endless procession, picturesque cotton-clad figures, laden with decorative tea-chests.; As a. matter of fact, ocean-going vessels of.considerable tonnage can reach a point 600 miles upstream from Hankow, except during the dry winter season ! The .fishing harbour presents a busy scene when crowded with its numerous fleets of quaint-looking fishing vessels, known as sampans; forests of poles mark the main approach to the native quarter of Hankow. These are the masts of the swarms of native boats on tho turbid river and the scaffolds on which the squalid houses are built. The native section of the vast city consists of closely-packed insanitary hovels, but the influence of Westernisation is scon in the newer parts of the great metropolis, where modern architecture prevails. Many of the streets in the older parts of the town are so narrow anil crowded with wheelbarrow drays and pedestrians that it is necessary to proceed in single file. Tho streets are alwa3*s buzzing with life.

Many Wars Hankow lias had a long and troubled history. As an Important centre_it has always been a valuable prize in the multifarious wars that have plagued China, It 'was here in 1911 that the revolution broke out which ended in China becoming a republic, and again 12 years ago, when it was captured by the Nationalist army, then by the Communists, and then recaptured by the Nationalists. If the Japanese do capture the city, the inhabitants will accept it with the same philosophical resignation which has characterised the Chinese from time immemorial, although on/this occasion they are determined to fight to the bitter end before surrendering. The tremendous commercial importance of Hankow has been touched ' .upon, and it is really remarkable. In Hanyang are some of the greatest iron nud steel works on the face of the • globe. It'lms boon said that they' are destined to become of even more importance than at present. The mills'own ' -?"*'! their own coalfields, some wit, i u ; n

downstream and 17 miles inland, with an .estimated yearly capacity of a mil-, lion tons for a century. Both coal and ore are brought to the mills by water •transport. - I ' Hankow has been largely industrialised as the result of contact with Western commercialism, for it was one of the first inland cities of China to be Opendd to foreign trade It was 80 years ago that the port was opened in this way. The Japanese early took a keen interest in tho exploitation of tho wealth of Central China, and the company operating the iron and steel works has been largely financed by Japanese loans. One of the most important concessions obtained by. Japan in 1915 was

i an undertaking from the Chinese Government' "not to confiscate the company, nor, without the consent of the Japanese capitalists, to convert it into a State enterprise, nor cause it to borrow and use foreign capital other than Japanese." However, little "incidents" (it still is not officially a Avar) like the present one put a different complexion on affairs. In addition to the steel and ironworks, there are a large number of weaving mills in Wu-lian, some three dozen in all, and until hostilities completely upset trade, there was an increasing demand for their cloths, artificial silks and brocades. Besides'these, there are several dye" works and several cotton mills with the

most modern equipment and method* on a par with those prevailing in Western countries. The surrounding countryside has benefited largely from these mills, and a growing area has been put under cotton There are about 30 rice mills, equipped with first-rate modern machinery, and oil refineries which export—in normal times—large quantities of oil both'.to Europe'and America. . ' ' VThe Hankow-Canton railway has: enabled large quantities of goods, to be sent rapidly down to the coast, and thus of late years the growing importance of Hankow as a great commercial centre has led to it becoming one of the greatest Hanking centres in the Orient.—K.P.F. ■ J