The International Development of China

by Yat-sen Sun

d. Anking and South Side

Anking, the capital of Anhwei, was once a very important city but since its destruction by the Taiping war it has never recovered its former greatness. Its present population is about 40,000 only. Its immediate neighborhood is very rich in mineral and agricultural products. The great tea district of Liu-an and the rich mineral district in the southeastern corner of Honan province will have to make Anking their shipping port when railways are developed. In the Yangtze Conservancy work, the concave turn of the river in front and west of the city has to be filled up. This reclaimed land should be for the extension of a new city, where modern transportation plants should be built.

Eagle Point, on the south side opposite Anking should be cut away to make the river curve more gently and to give the channel a uniform width. A new city should be laid out at this point, for from here we command the vast tea districts of southern Anhwei and western Chekiang. The rich inland city of Hweichow, with the highly productive country around it, will have to make this port its shipping station. As Wuhu is the center of the rice trade these twin cities of Anking will be the centers of the tea trade. Like Wuhu, these twin cities are also situated in the midst of rich iron and coal fields which will assist them to become important industrial centers in the near future. So to build twin cities at this point of the river will be a very profitable undertaking.

e. The Poyang Port

I propose to construct a port at a point between the Poyang Lake and the Yangtze River. This will be the sole port of the Kiangsi province. Every city of this province is connected by natural waterways which, if improved, will become a splendid water transportation system. The province of Kiangsi has a population of 30,000,000 and is extremely rich in mineral resources. A modern port acting as a commercial and industrial center for the development of this resourceful province would be a most remunerative proposition in our project.

The site of the port will be on the west side of the entrance to the Poyang Lake and the right bank of the Yangtze. It will be an entirely new city built on new ground, part of which will be reclaimed from the shallow side of the lake. In the regulating work of the Poyang Channel, a training wall should be built from the foot of the Taku Tang Hill to Swain Point opposite to Stone Bell Hill of Hukow. A closed dock should be constructed within this training wall for the accommodation of inland water vessels. The city should be laid out on the triangular space formed by the right bank of the Yangtze, the left side of the Poyang Lake and the foot hill of the Lushan Mountain. This triangle is about 10 miles on each side, excellent for city development. The porcelain industry should be established here instead of at Kingteh Chen, for great damages often occur owing to the lack of transportation facilities, and to the necessity of transhipment for the export of the finished articles from the latter place. Modern plants on a large scale should be adopted for the manufacturing of cheap wares as well as fine articles in our projected Poyang Port, for here we shall have the greater advantage of collecting raw materials than at Kingteh Chen. Thus the concentrating of the various manufactures in an advantageous center will result in quickening the growth of our new city. This Poyang Port is bound to grow into one of the great commercial and manufacturing centers in China, judging from the possibilities of Kiangsi alone. It will not only be a great shipping port of the Yangtze but will also be a railway center between North and South China. Thus to develop this port on a large scale is quite justifiable from an economic point of view.

f. Wuhan

Wuhan signifies the three cities of Wuchang, Hankow, and Hanyang. This point is the headwater of our projected ocean passage, the pivot of the railway system of China Proper, and will become the most important commercial metropolis in the country. The population of these three cities is over a million and could be easily doubled or trebled if improvements would be made. At present, Hanyang possesses the largest iron works in China, and Hankow, many modern industries, while Wuchang is becoming a great cotton manufacturing city. Besides, Hankow is the trade center of Central and West China, and the greatest tea market we have. The provinces of Hupeh, Hunan, Szechuen, and Kweichow and a part of Honan, Shensi, and Kansu all depend upon Hankow as their only port in the outside world. When railways are developed in China, Wuhan will be still more important and will surely become one of the greatest cities in the world. So in planning the future city of Wuhan we must adopt for its development a scale as large as that of New York or London.

In the regulation of the Yangtze embankments, we have to reclaim the front of Hankow from the jetty of Lungwangmiao at the junction of the Han River right along the left bank to the point where the Yangtze turns eastward. This reclaimed space will be at an average of about 500 to 600 yards wide. This will narrow down the river at this part to give a uniform channel of 5 to 6 cables in width and to give the Hankow settlement a strip of valuable land along its waterfront. This will also help to pay a part of the expenses for city construction. The sharp bend of the Han River just before it joins the Yangtze should be straightened so as to make a gentler curve around Lungwangmiao Point and thus enable the currents of both rivers to flow in the same direction at their junction. The Hanyang embankment will follow pretty closely the present shore line but not beyond the iron works jetty. The wide space of the river above Wuchang city should be walled in to make a closed dock for inland water as well as ocean going vessels. Below Wuchang, an embankment parallel to that of the left side should be built so as to make the future city extend far below the present one. A tunnel should be constructed to connect both embankments at a point where the Kinghan railway makes its first turn when it comes to the Yangtze River. And another tunnel or bridge should be constructed between Hankow and Hanyang on one side and Wuchang on the other at the junction of the Han River and the Yangtze. Additional tunnels or bridges may be constructed at different points when the city grows larger in the future. All the outlying land of these trio-cities should be taken up on the same basis as at our projected seaports, so that private monopoly and speculation in land may be prevented, and that the unearned increment will go to the State to help the payment of capital and interest on the foreign loans which are to be made in this international development scheme.