Health > Collaboration with the Ministry of Health of the National Government of the Republic of China

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to India, and so on to Persia, or by the Red Sea to Suez and Europe. Along all these
routes are important ports, such as Kobe, Yokohama, Honolulu, Manila, Singapore, Colombo.
To the north there is the Trans-Siberian Railway, connecting Europe and the Far
East. North China is so shaped that it is impossible for any one deep draft port to serve
it. Shanghai is within easy reach of Dairen and Vladivostock, and is a concentration
point for a great deal of the trade from the north. The produce of a vast section of Asia
must necessarily pass through Shanghai on its way to the outside world and there it is
sorted, repacked, prepared for the world’s markets and shipped to its destination. In the
same way a vast amount of the imports pour through Shanghai on their way to consumers
throughout China proper, Mongolia and Tibet. Shanghai is thus a focal point, the centre
of a network of oversea and inland trade routes.
The largest port in China north of Shanghai is Tientsin, which is situated at the
junction of the Pei-ho river and the Grand Canal and governs all the southern traffic
approaching Peking, from which it is distant about 86 miles by rail. There is a distance
of about 37 miles between Tientsin and Taku, which is situated at the mouth of the Pei-ho
river, and, owing to the shallowness of the river, larger vessels anchor at Taku. In
winter, the river is frozen over for about two to three months namely, from mid-
December to the latter part of February or middle of March and vessels call at Chin-
wangtao to the north of Tientsin, which is ice-free all the year round. This port is connected
by rail with Tientsin, and steamers load directly on to railway-cars.
Tientsin is the gateway for the commerce, not only of the metropolitan province
of Chih-li, but also of that of the larger part of Shansi and a part of several other northern
provinces and of Manchuria. Formerly, Tientsin depended mainly upon river transporta¬
tion for its commerce with interior places, but now a large part of the merchandise is
carried by rail.
Another northern port of increasing importance is Tsingtao, which is well-equipped
as a commercial port. Ocean-going steamers can be accommodated in the Great
Harbour ”, where there is at low-tide a depth of 3° feef alongside the piers. The trade
of this port is of considerable importance owing to its location on the sea-routes between
Tientsin and Shanghai and Dairen and Shanghai, on the one hand, and its railway con¬
nection with Tsinan, capital of Shantung, on the other hand. In 1928, the foreign trade
of the port was valued at 63.6 million Haikwan taels, of which 39-3 million comprised
imports and 26.3 million exports.
Other ports in the north of less commercial importance include Newchwang, Antung
and Chef00. Tho two former are icebound for several months in the winter , which hinders
their development. Chef00 is one of the centres for the departure of emigrants from
Shantung Province to Manchuria, many of whom pass through Newchwang.
In Southern China, the most important commercial city is Canton. It is, however,
situated about eighty miles above the mouth of the Pearl River, at the entrance to which
is the port of Hong-Kong. The latter serves as the large transhipment port for the
trade of South China. It is here that the large ocean-going vessels call and the major
portion of the foreign trade of Canton is with this port. The river near Canton also
has two sand-bars, which make the passage possible only to vessels of light draught.
For this reason, many cargo vessels unload portions of their cargo at Whampoa anchorage
before they can proceed to Canton. There is much talk, however, of improvements being
commenced in the near future in the port facilities of Canton, by making Whampoa a
deep-sea port.
The large emigration traffic from the ports of Amoy and Swatow to Java, Philippine
Islands, Straits Settlements, Rangoon and Siam makes these ports important from
the point of view of quarantine, although commercially they are of less interest.