The west and north of Yunnan are difficult to reach by way of the Si-kiang, and a large proportion of the goods imported into these districts comes from Burma through Tengyueh to Tali-fu, whence it is distributed over the country, some of it even finding its way northwards into Szechwan. The route from Burma is a mule track, and, as the carriage of goods along it is both tedious and costly, trade may be diverted from it to some extent by the new route opened up by the French railway from Haiphong in Tongking to Yunnan-fu by way of Mengtze. Various schemes have also been suggested for connecting some Burmese ports by rail with Tali-fu, and Yunnan-fu with Chengtu, but it is unlikely that anything will be done in either direction in the immediate future.
Great Britain, France, and Portugal have each a foothold in the province of Kwangtung. To Great Britain belongs the island of Hong-Kong and the leased territory of Kowloon on the mainland. Portugal possesses Macao, and France has recently acquired control of Kwangchow-wan. Hong-Kong, which has an excellent harbour, is thus enabled to perform the same functions as a collecting and distributing centre for South China that Shanghai performs for Central and Northern China. It is also engaged in sugar refining and other industries. Macao has lost much of the import ance which it formerly possessed, and Kwangchow-wan has not yet developed much trade of its own.
MANCHURIA.—To the east of the Mongolian Highlands lies a region to which the name of the Manchurian Lowland has been given. South-east of the Khingan range it forms a high plain with an elevation varying from 800 to 1,500 feet. This plain, which is drained in the north by the Amur, in the centre by the Sungari, and in the south by the Liao, is traversed by several ranges of hills generally trending from south-west to north-east, and, as a result, presents, on the whole, a somewhat mountainous appearance. On the east, it is separated from the low plain occupied by the Lower Amur, the Lower Sungari, and the Yalu, by ranges of hills which rise to over 6,000 feet. To the east of the low plain, again, are mountain ranges which occupy the country between it and the Pacific.
The political region, to which the name of Manchuria is given, does not, however, occupy the whole area just described, and in the north does not extend beyond the Amur, nor in the east beyond the Ussuri. The greater part of it belongs to the high and low
plains, and only in the north-west does it stretch beyond the Khingan mountains and occupy a small part of the Mongolian plateau.
Agriculture is at the present time the chief occupation of the inhabitants of Manchuria. The crops include several varieties of millet, the most important being tall millet (Holcus Sorghum), which is the staple food of the people. Wheat, barley, and buck wheat are grown, especially in the northern province, while rice and maize are cultivated to some extent in the south. The area under soya beans has increased greatly within recent years and is likely to continue to do so for some time to come as the northern districts, where climatic conditions favour the growth of the best beans, are gradually being brought under cultivation. The soya bean can be utilised in a great variety of ways. For human food it is converted into a sauce, or worked up as a paste, or made into bean curd; it can also be used as a table vegetable or converted into a kind of confec tionery. The oil which is extracted from it is used as an illuminant, and as a lubricant, and also enters into the manufacture of a variety of articles such as waterproofs, umbrellas, varnish, and ink, while in Europe, to which it has recently been imported in increasing quanti ties, it forms an important constituent in the manufacture of soap. The refuse from the beans after the oil has been extracted is given as food to cattle or is used as manure. Opium has hitherto been cultivated in various parts of the country, but especially to the north of the Sungari, one reason being that it was better able than most other articles to stand the heavy cost of carriage to the coast. Wild silk is obtained in considerable quantities in that part of Fengtien in which the hills slope towards the south. Ginseng (Panax ginseng), which the Chinese believe to have valuable medicinal qualities, grows both in a wild and in a cultivated condition.
Trapping is carried on in the mountains and forests of the north, where bears, leopards, tigers, sables, and squirrels are all found. In these districts, also, there are thousands of farms where dogs and goats, which have developed magnificent coats of hair to protect them from the cold of winter, are reared for the sake of their skins.