The Coolidge examiner., 1937-09-16


Washington. D. C-WNU Service.
APANESE occupation is not
new to the port Of Tsingtao.
China. where Nippon troops
- were recently reported to have
been denied permission to land by
Chinese officials. While Germany
was busy in Europe during the
World war, the city. then under a
99-year lease to the German govern
ment, was occupied by the jap
anese until hostilities in Europe
ceased.
Facing the Yellow sea. on the
southern coast of the Shantung penin-
sula. Tsingtao has been from time
to time provincial capital as well
as a dilapidated fishing port. Ger
many, in 1898. saw the city as a
great port. German Hong Kong"
hence the 99-year lease.
The German lease was eight years
old when the harbor was opened to
foreign trade. In the meantime
several thousand Germans moved
in. constructed new buildings and
wide, tree-lined boulevards. New
water and sewage systems were in
stalled, granite piers built out in
the harbor. which had been dredged
and marked so that ocean-going
vessels could dock and discharge or
load cargoes with modern equip
ment When the World war broke,
Tsingtao had not only become a
modern commercial Titan along the
Chinese coast, but its splendid
beaches and new hotel accommoda-
tions made it a vacation rendez-
vous for many residents of foreign
colonies in the Orient.
Today Tsingtao is not the German
Tsingtao. Before the Germans were
driven out, they blew up its fortA-
cations and demolished many other
mementos of their occupation. Jap
anese airmen did considerable dam
age with airplane bombs. Yet
Tsingtao remains one of China's
leading ports, and one of the near
est Chinese ports to Japan.
Tientsin Commercial Center.
Another Chinese city in which
japanese troops have concentrated
recently is Tientsin. 20 miles from
the gates of Peiping News dis
patches from Tientsin stated that
its principal railway station was
converted into an army supply depot
for Nippon's soldiers.
Few inland Chinese population
centers display the modern aspect
that the traveller discovers in Tient-
sin. While the city has its quarter
of narrow, winding byways where
children play amid odors typical of
a Chinese city, the foreign quarter
spreads its influence amid modern
settings Within a stones throw of
the tortuous streets are bank and
commercial buildings of which most
occidental cities would be proud,
/ dIlQ lIlSIG al lllG COIlCGSSlOIlS Ol
the British, French and Italians.
Tientsin is the chief commercial
center of North China. largely be-
cause Of its geographic location.
The city is only about 80 miles from
the sea, and nearby Tangku, on the
lower Hal Ho in reality is the
Tientsin seaport. The Pieyun Ho
flows into the city from the north
west and the Grand canal also passes
through it. Besides these trade ar
teries, century-old caravan routes
and railroads spread from Tientsin
like spokes in a gigantic wheel, pene-
trating Shantung, Jehol, Manchuti-
kuo, Honan, Shansi, Kansu and In
ner Mongolia. While traders still
ply the old routes, and railroads
and small vessels add to the COM
mercial animation of Tientsin, there
also are industries in the city that
employ many of its 1888, 900 people.
Flour milling is a chief industry
while cotton mills operate more
than 100000 spindles.
AS Tientsin is ION the way from
the sea to Peiping, it has long been
a key to the old capital.
Fighting in the Peiping area has
again thrown a world spotlight on
that frequently fought-over city, for
mer capital of China and always a
center of international interests.
Many foreigners are residents of
Peiping, where embassies to China
are retained. although offices must