TIEN-TSIN, a large and important city and river-port of China, in the province of Chih-le, on the right bank of the Pei-ho, 34 miles from the mouth of that river by land, and 68 miles by the windings of the stream. It is the port of the city of Pekin, from which it is distant 80 miles south-east. The streets are unpaved, and the houses, prin cipally built of mud or dried bricks, have a mean appearance, though the central parts of the town are filled with well-built houses. The maximum of heat in the summer is 106°, the maximum of cold is 6° below zero. The river is generally frozen over from about Dec.15 to March 15, and the business, at other times carried on by means of boats and junks, is taken up by sledges, which swarm on the river. By the treaty of Tien tsin, signed here Nov., 1858, and by the subsequent convention of Pekin, Oct., 1860, the port was declared open; and a British consulate was established in Jan., 1861. In 1870,
258 vessels, of 100,223 tons, were engaged in the trade of Tien-tsin; in 1875, the number of vessels was 673, of 350,916 tons. In 1864 the value of the imports amounted to £2,421,050; the exports to £548,082. In 1875 the imports amounted to £4,610,677; the exports to £506,936. There is also a large and rapidly increasing transit trade with Russia rid Siberia, tea to the value of £906,914 having been forwarded in 1875 from Tien-tsin overland to Russia. The principal articles imported are opium, skirtings, chintzes, and other cotton goods; needles, window-glass, sugar (brown and white), and paper. The chief exports are peas and dates. Pop. reckoned at 1,000,000.—Reports of Her Majesty's Secretaries of Embassy and Legation (1866); and Commercierl Reports from. Her Majesty's Consuls (1875).