Near the mouth of the Grand Canal is Kin shan, or Golden Island,[50] a beautiful spot, covered with temples and monastic establishments. A pagoda crowns the summit, and there are many pavilions and halls, of various sizes and degrees of elegance, on its sides and at the base, many of them showing their imperial ownership by the yellow or green tiling. Since the river has been open to traffic, and the devastations of the Tai-pings have ceased, the priests have returned in small numbers to their abodes, but the whole settlement is a poor mockery of its early splendor. A similar one, rather larger, is found at Siung shan, or Silver Island, below Chinkiang; it is, however, on a less extensive scale, though in a beautiful situation. Priests are the only occupants; temples and palaces the principal buildings, surrounded by gardens and bowers. Massive granite terraces, decorated with huge stone monsters, are reached from the water by broad flights of steps; fine temples, placed to be seen, and yet shaded by trees, open pavilions, and secluded summer-houses, give it a delightful air of retreat and comfort, which a nearer inspection sadly disappoints.
The banks of the Yangtsz’ during the 250 miles of its course through this province, are uniformly low, and no towns of importance occur close to them, as they would be exposed to the floods. The vast body of water, with its freight of millions of tons of silt goes on its way in a quiet equable current into the Yellow Sea. The dense population of the prefectures on the south bank, contrasted with the sparseness of the region between the Canal and seashore on the north side, indicate the comparative barrenness of the latter, and the difficulty of cultivating marshy lands so nearly level with the sea.
SHANGHAI.
The largest seaport in Kiangsu is Shanghai (i.e., Approaching the Sea), now become one of the leading emporia in Asia. It lies on the north shore of the Wusung River, about fourteen miles from its mouth, in lat. 31° 10′ N., and long. 121° 30′ E., at the junction of the Hwang-pu with it, and by means of both streams communicates with Suchau, Sungkiang, and other large cities on the Grand Canal; while by the Yangtsz’ it receives produce from Yunnan and Sz’chuen. In these respects its position resembles that of New Orleans.
The town of Wusung is at the mouth of that river, here about a mile wide; and two miles beyond lies the district town of Paushan. The wall of Shanghai is three miles in circuit, through which six gates open into extensive suburbs; around the ramparts flows a ditch twenty feet wide. The city stands in a wide plain of extraordinary fertility, intersected by numerous streamlets, and affording ample means of navigation and communication; its population is estimated to be at present over 500,000, but the data for this figure are rather imperfect. Since it was opened to foreign commerce in 1843, the growth of the town has been rapid in every element of prosperity, though subject to great vicissitudes by reason of the rebellion which devastated the adjoining country. Its capture by the insurgents in 1851, and their expulsion in February, 1853, with the destruction of the eastern and southern suburbs in 1860, have been its chief disasters since that date. The native trade has gradually passed from the unwieldy and unsafe junks which used to throng the Hwang-pu east of the city, into steamers and foreign craft, and is now confined, so far as the vessels are concerned, to the inland and coast traffic in coarse, cheap articles.
Shanghai city itself is a dirty place, and poorly built. The houses are mostly made of bluish square brick, imperfectly burned; and the walls are constructed in a cellular manner by placing bricks on their edges, and covering them with stucco. The streets are about eight feet wide, paved with stone slabs, and in the daytime crowded with people. Silk and embroidery, cotton, and cotton goods, porcelain, ready-made clothes, beautiful skins and furs, bamboo pipes of every size, bamboo ornaments, pictures, bronzes, specimens of old porcelain, and other curiosities, to which the Chinese attach great value, attract the stranger’s notice. Articles of food form the most extensive trade of all; and it is sometimes a difficult matter to get through the streets, owing to the immense quantities of fish, pork, fruit, and vegetables, which crowd the stands in front of the shops. Dining-rooms, tea-houses, and bakers’ shops, are met with at every step, from the poor man who carries around his kitchen or bakehouse, altogether hardly worth a dollar, to the most extensive tavern or tea-house, crowded with customers. For a few cash, a Chinese can dine upon rice, fish, vegetables, and tea; nor does it matter much to him, whether his table is set in the streets or on the ground, in a house or on a deck, he makes himself merry with his chopsticks, and eats what is before him.[51] The buildings composing the Ching-hwang miao, and the grounds attached to this establishment, present a good instance of Chinese style and taste in architecture. Large warehouses for storing goods, granaries, and temples, are common; but neither these, nor the public buildings, present any distinguishing features peculiar to this city alone.
The contrast between the narrow, noisome and reeking parts of the native city, and the clean, spacious, well-shaded and well-paved streets and large houses of the foreign municipalities, is like that seen in many cities in India. The Chinese are ready enough to enjoy and support the higher style of living, but they are not yet prepared to adopt and maintain similar improvements among themselves. The difficulty of being sure of the co-operation of the rulers in municipal improvements deters intelligent natives from initiating even the commonest sanitary enterprise of their foreign neighbors.
The remaining cities and districts of Kiangsu present nothing worthy of special remark. The Grand Canal runs from north to south, and affords a safe and ample thoroughfare for multitudes of boats in its entire length. Tsing-kiang-pu and Hwai-ngan, near the old Yellow River, receive the traffic from the north and Hungtsih Lake, while Yangchau near the Yangtsz’ River, takes that going north. In this part of the channel, constant dyking has resulted in raising the banks; the city of Hwai-ngan, for example, lies below the canal which brings trade to its doors, and may one day be drowned by its benefactor. Salt is manufactured in the districts south of the Yellow River, where the people cultivate but rare patches of arable land.
The island of Tsungming, at the mouth of the Yangtsz’, is about sixty miles long, and sixteen wide, containing over nine hundred square miles, and is gradually enlarging by the constant deposits from the river; it is flat, but contains fresh water. It is highly cultivated and populous, though some places on the northern side are so impregnated with salt, and others so marshy, as to be useless for raising food. This island produces a variety of kaoliang or sorghum (Holcus), which is sweet enough to furnish syrup, and is grown for that purpose in the United States.
POSITION AND TOWNS OF NGANHWUI PROVINCE.