Shaohing

On our way back we explored the city of Shaohing, in which, as in Venice, the streets are canals, and boats the common vehicles.

Farming is everywhere the chief industry of the people, but besides the silk spinning and weaving, the paper fan, mat, and hat manufacture, and the curing of fish, already mentioned, wine is made of a fermented liquor derived from rice at Shaohing and is celebrated all over China, hams are cured in the Kinhwa prefecture, and wood carving and inlaid furniture are manufactured at Ningpo.

Cotton is a summer crop of increasing importance, especially in Kiangsu north of the Yangtze, and near Shaohing in Chekiang, the annual yield being estimated at 500,000 and 100,000 bales of 500 lb. each, respectively.