Evening star., 1928-10-14
TEA TRADE GAINS
|NFOOCHOW MART
Famed Walled City Seeking
Prestige Lost to Japan
and CeyIon.

"roochow. China, famous for its
kweet-smelling tea. is reported tAf be
staging a comeback as one ofsthe
worlds great tea ports" says bulletin
arom the National Geographic Society.
The steep slopes of Fukien Province.
fNhich bowed to the vast tea plantations
IF Ceylon and Japan nearly two dec
ades ago again are covered with thriv-
ing tea bushes Tea a-ladcn boats on the
SNfin recall the days when Yankee clip
1pers cleared Foochow with cargoes of
fragrant leaves destined for American
SeapotS
"Foochow's port is really in its sub
urbs." continues the bulletin. The
nearest gate in the Smile wall that
surrounds the city is miles from the
north bank Of the Min.
To reach Foochow one must so by
boat for there are no railroads or good
roads in this region. Ocean-going YES
sells from Shanghai and Hongkong enter
the Min opposite the north end of
Tormosa and steam up the river for 25
miles to Pagoda Anchorage From
there passengers are transported by
steam launch through maze OF mat
%ing- covered Sampans and high-pooped
.junks to the Foochow piers, 9 miles
Farther upstream. The remainder OF
the Journey to the walled city may be
made by bus, iinrikisha or sedan chair.
Frequently passengers are landed on
the south side of the river. where one
gets a glimpse Of the most modern sec
ton of Foochow-the foreign settle
ment. The foreign clubs and legation
buildings. surrounded by Towering gar
dens and well kept lawns, sharply con-
trast with the congested native quar-
ter. A race track. numerous tennis
courts and pleasure craft on the MIN
tnNN tl1n small fOrpipI1 nnnllatl0n COM
tented.
Street Has Many Turns.
Within the wall few modern
SCHOOL government and business build
k1gs have been built in recent years,
end few of the main streets leading
from the city gates have been w1dened,
but step into one of the side streets
Is a step back several centuries in Foo
chow history.
An example of early Chinese city
planning can be visualized by drawing
2 diagram of a certain street in Foo
elbows east side. It runs from one Of
the main streets eastward then north
ward eastward, northward, eastward,
northward eastward. southwark, west
ward, westward. southwark, eatward
ward. westward, southwark. eastward
end southwark.
THE whole course of this thorough
fare is not more than two or three
blocks long and nowhere it is wide
enough for jinrikisha to pass with
cut driving playing children and their
plsyma mates-1lthy pigs and dogs-into
bordering doorways. The sedan chair
IS used by most travellers to penetrate
these passageways, where the odors
permeating the atmosphere are so over
whelming to foreign nostrils that the
chair bearers are urged on to the near
oct breathing space.
Open Shops Display Industries.
More pleasant to the traveller a-e
the tea factories and warehouses where
tea leaves. scented wits iasmines. roses
and chrySanthemums. are sorted from
dawn to dusk by Chinese women and
children. Last year Foochow exported
more than 100000 pounds of Fukien
tea and re-eXported an additional
5.o0o.000 pounds, shipped to Foochow
tea perfumeries' There are more than
20 tea factories in the city.
THE open shops along the Foochow
streets reveal thousands of natives
eking out an existence in various other
industries Before ones eyes clever !
artisans make wooden pillows and |
images of gods and odd-looking beasts: |
cabinetmakers turn out fancy furni- |
ture potters shape and fire handsome |
Vessels, DTlCkmdkeIS I0ST1lOn JI1Gu pTOQ- /
ucts in all shapes, sizes and colors: both
men and women sit silently enbroider-
ing. or weaving. the dark cloth usually
worn by peasants. and dyers, with inky
hands. seemingly turn old garments into
new of a different color.
"One of the most interesting of these
industrial displays is the making of
lovely vases, toys, tables and numerous
other articles in the lacquer shops
Foochow lacquer ware is almost as well
known as its tea. An American boy
would. perhaps, spend most Of his time
peering into the fireworks shops where
worknlen evolve the noise for street
professions. funerals weddings and
other Chinese celebrations. Trade with
81 cities and many small villages
reached by river boats. accounts for
p1uch of Foochow's commercial activity
1T was not until 1861, when the Min
was opened to foreign shipping. that the
city's suburbs spread out along both
banks and beckoned to world trade.
&ince then Foochow's annual output of
tee alone has reached nearly 100 100000
weunds. and it bids fair to repeat"