HUCHOW, a Chinese town of Ioo,000 inhabitants in north east Chekiang, lying to the south of the Tai-Nu Lake about so m N. of Hangchow and 120 M. W.S.W. of Shanghai. Huchow is the centre of the great silk area of the Yangtze delta which is shaped like an inverted funnel with its stem along the Grand Canal, splaying out beyond Wusih to include all northern Chekiang where the mulberry has little competition from cotton. Huchow is famous for silk products but in recent years its output has decreased owing to the competition of Shanghai, Wusih and Hangchow with their more modern methods. It retains its im portance, however, for the cultivation of the Huchow mulberry. It has a large export trade in saplings and its raw cocoons and hand-reeled silk are in great demand at Shanghai, Wusih and Hangchow. Trade is carried on by junks.