The Nome nugget., 1938-06-02

Prenarei by National Geographic Society,
 Washington, D C-WNU Service.
 Y JAPANESE occupation is not
 new to the port of Tsingtao,
 China, where Nippon troops I 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 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 a provincial capital as well as dilapidated fishing port. Ger many, in 1898, saw the city as a great port, German Hong Kong hence the 99year 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, treelined 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 fortif- 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 a Commercial Center.
 Another Chinese city in which Japanese troops have concentrated recently is Tientsin, 70 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 traveler 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 it's 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, and there are the concessions of 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 30 miles from the sea, and nearby Tangku, on the lower Hai 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 h. ner Mongolia. While traders still ply the old routes, and railroads and small vessels add to the con- mercial animation of Tientsin, there also are industries in the city that employ many of it's 1 ,388,00 people Flour milling is chief industry while cotton mills operate more than 100000 spindles.
 As Tientsin is lon 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