THE  PROVINCES  AND  THE  TREATY  PORTS  219
Tls.155,000  for  native  weaving),  cotton  yarn  (Tls.1,728,000
for  foreign,  and  Tls.80,355  for  native  spinning),  cigarettes ­
  (Tls.674,000),  coal  (Tls.510,000),  flour  (Tls,  1,332,000),
matches  (Tls.578,000),  kerosene  oil  (Tls.1,917,000),  sugar
(Tls.i,732,000),  and  rice  (Tls.3,415,000).  Among  exports  the
principal  articles  were  beans  and  bean-cake  (Tls.2,794&gt; 000 )&gt;
wild  silk  (Tls.4,803,000),  straw-braid  (Tls.1,413,000),  vermicelli ­
  (Tls.i,573,213).
Weihaiwei  (37 o  30'  N.,  122 o  9'  E.)  was  occupied  by
Great  Britain  under  a  lease  from  China  in  1898,  as  an
answer  to  the  Russian  occupation  of  Port  Arthur  and  Talien,
which  followed  on  the  German  occupation  of  Kiaochow.
The  government  is  by  a  Commissioner.  There  is  no  resident
foreign  population  to  form  an  electorate,  and  the  Chinese
are  ruled  more  Sínico  through  the  village  elders.  The  port
is  a  summer  station,  but  not  a  base,  for  the  British  East
Asiatic  squadron,  and  an  hotel  and  a  school  have  been
established  there.  Considering  the  meagreness  of  the
population  and  that  it  is  supposed,  while  being  a  free  port,
to  have  no  legitimate  traffic  with  its  hinterland,  its  seaborne ­
  trade  is  surprisingly  large.
Kiaochow  is  and  remains  a  Chinese  city  at  the  head
of  its  wide  shallow  bay,  with  good  anchorage  only  at  its
mouth.  Here  lies  Tsingtau  (36 o  4'  N.,  120 o  18'  E.),  the
port  and  seat  of  government  of  the  German  “  Territory  of
Kiaochow.”  Possession  of  this  port  and  its  environs  was
taken  on  November  14,  1897,  as  reprisal  for  the  murder
of  two  German  missionaries,  and  subsequently,  in  March
1898,  a  lease  for  ninety-nine  years  was  obtained  from  the
Chinese  Government.  The  local  administration  is  controlled ­
  by  a  Governor,  assisted  by  a  Council  composed  of
the  heads  of  departments,  eight  in  number,  to  whom  are
added  three  unofficial  members.  The  town  and  port  have
been  developed  by  subsidies  provided  by  the  German
Government  ;  the  town  has  been  laid  out  with  broad  streets
and  provided  with  fine  buildings,  while  the  port  is  an
artificial  creation  with  its  moles  and  breakwaters,  and
equipped  with  all  needed  European  appliances  ;  and  fifty