HANG-CHOW-F00, the capital of the province of Che-keang, in China, on the left bank of the Tsieu-tang, where that river diseinbognes into the bay of Hang-chow-foo, is situated at the commencement of the grand canal, in lat. 30° 18' n., long. 120° 15' east. It is about 150 m. s,e. of Nankin. Hang-chow-foo is the most magnificent city of China—a Chinese proverb 'Makes it a heaven upon earth. It was the capital of the empire during the rule of the Mongols, when it was visited by the celebrated Marco Polo early in the 14th century. There are ten gates through its lofty walls, which are m. in circumference, but there are more inhauitants without the enciente than within. The population is estimated by Dr. Maegowan at 800,000. The streets, which are of greater width than is usual in Chinese cities, are well paved, and in some directions lined for miles with elegant shops and extensive warehouses. The terminal ramifiea itions of the grand canal are spanned by countless elegant bridges. Hang-chow-foo is •celebrated for its silk manufactures, and its embroidery excels that of any part of China. Mulberry-trees occupy every vacant spot within and without the walls. No city in China, unless it be that of Snehau, possesses wealth to compare with that of this remarkable place, which, moreover, is the most literary and most religious part of lie empire. Colleges and temples, literati and priests, abound and flourish in Dang-chow foo. The imperial library in the palace of Kienlung, and the literary institutions, appear, however, to be going to decay, and could not at any period have had nitwit educational influence. One cause of the celebrity of the city is found in the beauty of its environs. The tower of the thundering winds, although in ruins, is still an imposimg edifice; while monumental gateways, light airy bridges, and temples of the size of vil lages,trender the natural beauties of the city highly picturesque. One of the temples possesses 500 images of the Io-han (Buddhist saints), of the size of life, richly covered withhold. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the valleys opening into the lake, richly .adorned as they are with trees, chiefly the camphor and tallow trees, and the arbor vitae. Froma remote period, these scenes have been the resort of pilgrims, and every spot is hallowed by some legendary incident. At one place there is an image of Buddha, cut out of the solid rock, measuring 48 ft. front shoulder to shoulder. The nose is 7 ft. long, and the other parts are of a proportional size; it is gilt over like wooden and clay images of the same personage. The protruding rocks are profusely carved with religi ous inscriptions and images of mythological characters. The n.e. section of Ilang-chotv fon is Nalc:d the Tartar city, being exclusively devoted to the Mantelm garrison or mili tary colony. It is separated front the Chinese city by a low wall. About 25 m. below the city is Kanpoo, once a mart of considerable importance, the port of lfang-chow-foo, when that ckty was the metropolis of China, described by Marco Polo as an extremely flourishii1g place; fluvial changes have rendered it inaccessible to any but small, flat bottomed vessels. Chapoo, about 50 m. distant, situated on the n. of the bay, is now
the port of Hang-chow-foo. Chapoo has also a Tartar city; it communicates by branches of the grand canal with Hang-chow-foo and Shanghai. It is the port to which Chinese trade with Japan is restricted. Hang-chow-foo suffered considerably at the hands of rebel Tae-pings (q.v.), by whom it was captured.
, The configuration of the bay of Hang•chow-foo and the embouchure of the Tsien tang river, which empties into it near the provincial capital, favors the formation of the tidal phenomenon designated an cagre or bore. See BORE. Dr. Macgowan, the first European who has witnessed this magnificent spectacle, has published an account of it in the Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of As the tide rushes into the month of the river, it becomes elevated to a lofty wave, which attains its greatest magnitude opposite the city of Ilang-chow-foo. Generally, there is nothing remarkable in its aspect, except at the period of the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, the maximum being at the latter season. As the hour of flood-tide approaches, crowds gather in the streets running at right angles with the river, but at safe distances; boatmen stop lading and unlading their vessels, and put out into the middle of the stream. The center of the river teems with craft. Loud shouting' from the fleet announces the appearance of the flood, which seems like a glistening white cable stretched athwart the bay aS far down as the eye can reach. Its noise, compared by native poets to that of thunder, speedily drowns that of the boatmen; and as it or with prodigious velocity, it assumes the appearance of an alabaster wall, or rather of an advancing cataract 4 or 5 m. across, and about 30 ft. high. As the fdaming wall of water dashes impetuously onward, one trembles for the safety of the floating multitude. They cease shouting, and devote their energies to the steadying of the prows of their vessels toward the advancing wave, which threatens to submerge everything afloat; but they a11 vault as it were to the summit with perfect safety. This grand and exciting scene is but of a moment's duration; the wave passes up the river in an instant. but from this point with gradually decreasing force, volume, and velocity, disappearing entirely a few miles above the city. From ebb to flood tide, the change is almost instantaneous; a slight flood continues after the passage of the wave, but it soon begins to ebb. Within the historic period, numerous changes have been effected by the action of this wave, the most noted being the removal of a rocky islet from the center of the river opposite ' Hang-chow-foo, Chinese ingenuity has been long exerted, with imperfect success, in preserving the alluvial plain from the wasting action of the eagre. The history of the dikes that have been successively erected, of failures and disasters, found in the local annals, show that, like the Yellow river, this part of the Tsien-tang has been a con stant source of anxiety and expense to the government, costing about $130,000 per annum.