Show jap held coast of north china now in of U so 5 bombers port cities famed in tea and silk trade must be recaptured by the national geographic society the chinese have a saying everything ery thing new originates in canton bearing this out they p point to the fact that the earliest chinese trade with the western world centered at canton and that sun yat sen who established the modern modem chinese state found his first followers there this port so important in the life of china marks the southern end of a vital 1000 mile sweep of coast which extends northward to the jap anese held shanghai area along this coast now feeling the me blows of A merican american b bombs olin its japanese control is only nominal except for the ports one important port Min how remained in chinese hands throughout the entire war until a recent sudden attack by japanese forces japanese penetration along sections of this long coast is only skin deep extending no farther inland than the waning power of the nipponese navy is felt A few miles inland from the port garrisons the chinese remain in control some sizable reaches of the coast between major ports are likewise free of the invader the shoreline from canton to shanghai forms a gentle outward curve with countless minor irregularities lari ties but no deep indentations except the canton estuary changchow Hang Hange chow how bay and the mouth of tle the yangtze Yang tze the coast is rugged rocky and shattered into thousands of islands ty photons often rage along the entire coast except at shanghai making ships scurry to the nearest typhoon shelter gentler monsoons blow all year fishing is one of the chief occupations of the crowded land starved people A bit of this coast is t tropical ro and much subtropical hong kong lies on about the same latitude as havana cuba and shanghai is no farther hiorth than savannah ga orange groves tea shrubs and rice paddies are seen in profusion as far north as rivers carry all traffic railroads are not as important in serving chinese ports as are rivers many of the coast cities have no railroads each port lies at the mouth of a river nearly all traffic is borne to and from the ports on water making them really transshipment points between river and canal craft and ocean going vessels canton about 90 miles from th the e open sea is truly a city built on water trade it is situated at the head of an estuary into which flow several rivers estimates place from to of its inhabitants actually living on the water in junks on rafts sampans and barges in this floating city within a city a man could be born grow up marry have children and die spending most of his life on the water canton saw the birth of the foreign trade and merchant marine of the united states six months after england recognized the Col colonies oniest independence the ship empress of china was bound for canton and tea she also brought back chinaware and silk thus started the fabulous china trade in which yankee built clipper ships ou traced everything on the sea before the japanese invasion brought an interruption one third of modern cantons exports came to the united states mostly as raw silk canton was feverishly improving itself when the japs came the bund formerly a muddy track along the river front was transformed into a wide well paved street backed by eight and nine story hotels department part artmont ment stores and a modern cus tom torn shouse thousands of ramshackle buildings were razed to make way for 60 miles of paved streets roads into the interior were built on either side of the mouth of cantons estuary lie two foreign colonies portuguese macau and british hong kong macau was the thin edge of the wedge which europe thrust into china in the lath century that later opened most of the important ports of the empire to foreign trade little more than remembrance of past glory remains to macau british gain monopoly hong kong britaina Brit ains great across the bay had nearly monopolized the foreign trade of 01 all au 01 au south china it ranked as one of the worlds principal ports wi with th a P population opu lation of slightly over a million of whom were caucasians northeast of hong kong is bias bay hangout of pirates though usually a ily attacking jun junks ks or small native ships these bold corsairs cor sometimes boarded steamers as passengers overpowered the crews on the high seas and took the ships to bias bay for looting and for holding rich passengers for ransom amoy Chuan chow and are four important ports opposite japanese held formosa taiwan near the mouth of the han was noted for its exports of linen embroidery and laces A city of had no wharves but unloaded its ships at mid river pontoons pon which were bridged to the shore As in most china ports lighters also carried the cargo from large ships anchored in the harbor to the shore amoy supplied the tea for the boston tea party the british ships whose cargoes were dumped into oston boston baayin bay in 1773 carried tea from this faraway chinese city aloys I 1 0 N 01 ell C n andru U IL hyang V river u ill I 1 h 1 I 1 U 1 N ko H w i I 1 ni n g I 1 I 1 RY ung han ay jfhn ch w N falen N I 1 e juk ian 1 Klen teh J CHE eg 1 1 L net L 16 K W P NG iena z e SKI z K S F U A 1 z Kanh sten I 1 mgt aon K run ikc tang ck u mt ai 1 uan ow 7 talho V i 0 0 y W 1 I 1 zoan I 1 7 Z W wa pescadores Pesca dores an 1 0 batow tait M rak d was a y Ko tosho ong ong Bashi Channel 0 90 too G national Ceo graphic society prewar persons had one of ofa chinas cainas most improved ports once dirty and backward it built wide streets an extensive bund and the finest park in south china it lost its iti rich formosa trade when japan took that chinese island in 1895 the harbor of Chuan chow tsin kiang admits only vessels of 10 foot draft or less but has an anchorage for the largest vess vessels ls A chinese navy yard and dry docks were located there in the and was the most famous tea port in the world british and american clippers loaded up with bohea tea and raced west in the race of 1866 there was a difference of only 12 minutes between the first and second ships to reach the finish line in the english channel after a voyage of miles |