THE  PROVINCES  AND  THE  TREATY  PORTS  233

shipments  of  tea  in  thousands  of  piculs  being  shown  in
parentheses  after  the  export  values  :

Imports.
Tls.
1864  .  .  2,622,319
1874  ..  3,932,987
1884  .  .  2,852,825
1894  .  .  4,911,997
1904  ..  12,045,395

Exports.  Total.
Tls.  Tls.
4,070,948  (137)  6,693,267
9,921,679  (245)  13,854,666
6,351,800  (279)  9,204,625
6,705,479  (211)  11,617,476
12,302,165  (186)  24,347,560

Among  the  imports  in  1904,  cotton  yarn  was  valued
at  Tls.4,327,000,  kerosene  oil  at  Tls.859,000,  sugar  at
Tls.767,000  ;  among  exports  the  principal  were  tea
(Tls.4,945,000),  porcelain  (Tls.714,300),  cotton  (Tls.502,300),
hemp  (Tls.926,000),  paper  (Tls.1,443,000),  and  tobacco
(Tls.645,000).

Anhwei
The  province  of  Anhwei,  with  an  area  estimated  at
54,800  square  miles  and  a  population  variously  at  from
25,000,000  to  35,000,000,  was  formerly  a  part  of  the  province
of  Kiangsu,  from  which  it  was  separated  administratively
in  the  reign  of  Kang-hi,  a.d.  1662-1723.  The  portion  north
of  the  Yangtze,  except  for  some  part  of  the  extreme  west
bordering  on  Hupeh,  is  plain,  and  may  be  termed  the
granary  of  the  Empire,  annually  producing  a  greater  exportable ­
  surplus  of  rice  than  any  other  rice-growing  district.
South  of  the  Yangtze,  except  for  plains  bordering  the  river,
is  mainly  hilly.  The  principal  products  are  rice,  tea,
opium,  hemp,  cotton,  and  paper.  Anhwei  is  the  country
of  Li  Hung-chang,  who  supplemented  the  work  of  the
Hunanese  Tseng  Kwo-fan  in  suppressing  the  Taiping  rebellion, ­
  and  who  from  1870  until  near  his  death  in  1902
was  Grand  Secretary,  Viceroy  of  Chihli,  Imperial  Commissioner ­
  for  Foreign  Trade,  Generalissimo  of  the  military
and  naval  forces  in  the  north,  and  principal  negotiator  for
the  Imperial  Government  of  its  treaties  and  conventions  ;