NINGPO.
Ningpo fu (‘Peaceful Wave city’) is the next important city in Chehkiang, in consequence of its foreign relations. It is admirably situated for trade and influence, at the junction of three streams, in lat. 29° 55′ N., and long. 121° 22′ E.; the united river flows on to the ocean, eleven and a half miles distant, under the name of the Tatsieh. Opposite the city itself, there are but two streams, but the southern branch again subdivides a few miles south-west of Ningpo. Its population has been variously estimated from one-fourth to one-third of a million, and even more, including the suburban and floating inhabitants. This place was called King-yuen by the Sung, and received its present name from the Mongols. It was captured in 1862 by the insurgents, who were deterred from destroying it by the presence of foreign men-of-war; the prosperity of the mart has since increased. When foreigners first resorted to China for trade, Ningpo soon became a centre of silk and other kinds of commodities; the Portuguese settled there, calling it Liampo, which is the same name. It is, moreover, an ancient city, and its Annals afford full information upon every point interesting to a Chinese antiquarian, though a foreigner soon tires of the many insignificant details mixed up with a few valuable statements.[58]
“The plain in which Ningpo lies is a magnificent amphitheatre, stretching away from twelve to eighteen miles on one side to the base of the distant hills, and on the other to the verge of the ocean. As the eye travels along, it catches many a pleasing object. Turn landward, it will see canals and water-courses, fields and snug farm-houses, smiling cottages, family residences, hamlets and villages, family tombs, monasteries and temples. Turn in the opposite direction, and you perceive a plain country descending toward the ocean; but the river alive with all kinds of boats, and the banks studded with ice-houses, most of all attract the attention. From without the city, and while still upon the ramparts, look within its walls, you will be no less gratified. Here there is nothing European, little to remind you of what you have seen in the west. The single-storied and the double-storied houses, the heavy prison-like family mansions, the family vaults and graveyards, the glittering roofs of the temples, the dilapidated official residences, the deserted literary and examination halls, and the prominent sombre Tower of Ningpo, are entirely Chinese. The attention is also arrested for a moment or two by ditches, canals, and reservoirs of water, with their wooden bridges and stone arches.”[59] Two serious drawbacks to a residence here are the stifling heat of summer and the bad quality of the water.
The circumference of the walls is nearly five miles; they are about twenty-five feet high, fifteen feet wide at the top, and twenty-two at the base, built solidly, though somewhat dilapidated, and overgrown with grass. A deep moat partly surrounds them; commencing at the North gate, it runs on the west, south, and south-east side as far as Bridge gate, a distance of nearly three miles, and is in some places forty yards wide. Its constant use as a thoroughfare for boats insures its repair and proper depth; the other faces of the city are defended by the river. There are six gates, and two sally-ports near the south and west approaches intended for the passage of the boats that ply on the city canals.
On the east is Bridge gate, within which, and near the walls, the English factory was once situated. This opening leads out to the floating bridge; the latter structure is two hundred yards long and five broad, made of planks firmly lashed, and laid upon sixteen lighters closely linked and chained together, but which can be opened. A busy market is held on the bridge, and the visitor following the lively crowd finds his way to an extensive suburb on the opposite side. Ferry boats ply across both streams in vast numbers, adding greatly to the vivacity of the scene. The custom-house is situated beyond the bridge, and this eastern suburb contains several buildings of a religious and public character, lumber-yards, dock-yards, and rows of ice-houses, inviting the notice of the traveller. The environs beyond the north gate are not so thickly settled as those across the rivers; the well cultivated fields, divided and irrigated by numerous water-courses, with scattered hamlets, beguile the visitor in his rambles, and lead him onward.
There are numerous temples and monasteries, and a large variety of assembly-halls, governmental offices, and educational establishments, but none of these edifices are remarkable in an architectural point of view. The assembly-halls or club-houses are numerous, and in their internal arrangements form a curious feature of native society. It is the practice among residents or merchants from other provinces, to subscribe and erect on the spot where they are engaged in business, a temple, dedicated to the patron deity of their native province, in which a few priests are supported, and plays acted in its honor. Sometimes the building is put in charge of a layman, called a “master of ceremonies,” and the current expenses defrayed by subscription. The club-houses are places of resort for travellers from the several provinces or districts, and answer, moreover, to European coffee-houses, in being points where news from abroad is heard and exchanged.
The streets are well paved, and interrupted here and there by honorary portals of considerable size and solidity, which also give variety to an otherwise dull succession of shops and sign-boards, or dead walls. Two small lagoons afford space for some aquatic amusements to the citizens. One called Sun Lake is only a thousand yards in circuit; the other, called Moon Lake, is near the West gate, and has three times its perimeter. Both are supplied by sluices passing through the city gates, while many canals are filled from them, which aid in irrigating the suburbs. Some of the pleasantest residences of the city are built on their banks.
NINGPO, CHINHAI, AND THE ARCHIPELAGO.
Among interesting edifices is the Tien-fung tah (i.e., Heaven-conferred pagoda), a hexagonal seven-storied tower upward of 160 feet high, which, according to the Annals of Ningpo, was first erected 1100 years ago, though during that period it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Upon the authority of this work, the tower was constructed before the city itself, and its preservation is considered as connected with the good luck of the place. The visitor mounts to the summit by a flight of narrow stone steps, ascending spirally within the walls.