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KIAKHTA

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 783 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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KIAKHTA , a See also:

town of See also:Siberia, one of the See also:chief centres of See also:trade between See also:Russia and See also:China, on the Kiakhta, an affluent of the Selenga, and on an elevated See also:plain surrounded by mountains, in the See also:Russian See also:government of See also:Transbaikalia, 320 M. S.W. of See also:Chita, the See also:capital, and See also:close to the See also:Chinese frontier, in 50° 20' N., zoo° 40' E. Besides the See also:lower town or Kiakhta proper, the municipal See also:jurisdiction comprises the fortified upper town of Troitskosaysk, about 2 m. N., and the See also:settlement of Ust-Kiakhta, zo m. farther distant. The lower town stands directly opposite to the Chinese See also:emporium of Maimachin, is surrounded by walls, and consists principally of one broad See also:street and a large See also:exchange courtyard. From 1689 to 1727 the trade of Kiakhta was a government See also:monopoly, but in the latter See also:year it was thrown open to private merchants, and continued to improve until 186o, when the right of commercial intercourse was extended along the whole Russian-Chinese frontier. The See also:annual See also:December fairs for which Kiakhta was formerly famous, and also the See also:regular See also:traffic passing through the town, have considerably fallen off. since that date. The Russians exchange here See also:leather, sheepskins, furs, horns, woollen cloths, coarse linens and See also:cattle for teas (in value 95% of the entire imports), See also:porcelain, See also:rhubarb, manufactured silks, nankeens and other Chinese produce. The See also:population, including Ust-Kiakhta (5000) and Troitskosaysk (9213 in 1897), is nearly 20,000. KIANG-SI, an eastern See also:province of China, bounded N. by Hu-peh and Ngan-hui, S. by Kwang-tung, E. by Fu-kien, and W. by Hu-nan. It has an See also:area of 72,176 sq. m., and a population returned at 22,000,000. It is divided into fourteen prefectures.

The provincial capital is Nan-ch'ang Fu, on the Kan Kiang, about 35 M. from the Po-yang See also:

Lake. The whole province is traversed in a See also:south-See also:westerly and See also:north-easterly direction by the Nan-shan ranges. The largest See also:river is the Kan Kiang, which rises in the mountains in the south of the province and flows north-See also:east to the Po-yang Lake. It was over the Meiling Pass and down this river that, in old days, embassies landing at See also:Canton proceeded to See also:Peking. During the summer See also:time it has See also:water of sufficient See also:depth for steamers of See also:light draft as far as Nan-ch'ang, and it is navigable by native See also:craft for a considerable distance beyond that See also:city. Another river of See also:note is the Chang Kiang, which has its source in the province of Ngan-hui and flows into the Po-yang Lake, connecting in its course the Wuyuen See also:district, whence come the celebrated " Moyune " See also:green teas, and the city of See also:King-te-then, celebrated for its pottery, with Jao-chow Fu on the lake. The See also:black " Kaisow " teas are brought from the Ho-kow district, where they are grown, down the river See also:Kin to Juy-hung on the lake, and the Siu-ho connects by a navigable stream I-ning Chow, in the neighbourhood of which city the best black teas of this See also:part of China are produced, with Wu-thing, the See also:principal mart of trade on the lake. The principal products of the province are See also:tea, China See also:ware, grass-See also:cloth, See also:hemp, See also:paper, See also:tobacco and See also:tallow. Kiu-kiang, the treaty See also:port of the province, opened to See also:foreign trade in 1861, is on the Yangtsze-kiang, a See also:short distance above the junction of the Po-yang Lake with that river. KIANG-SU, a maritime province of China, bounded N. by Shan-tung, S. by Cheh-kiang, W. by Ngan-hui, and E. by the See also:sea. It has an area of 45,000 sq. m., and a population estimated at 21,000,000. Kiang-su forms part of the See also:great plain of See also:northern China.

There are no mountains within its limits, and few hills. It is watered as no other province in China is watered. The See also:

Grand See also:Canal runs through it from south to north; the Yangtszekiang crosses its See also:southern portion from See also:west to east; it possesses several lakes, of which the T'ai-hu is the most noteworthy, and numberless streams connect the canal with the sea. Its See also:coast is studded with See also:low islands and sandbanks, the results of the deposits brought down by the Hwang-ho. Kiang-su is See also:rich in places of See also:interest. See also:Nanking, " the Southern Capital," was the seat of the Chinese See also:court until the beginning of the 15th See also:century, and it was the headquarters of the T'ai-p'See also:ing rebels from 1853, when they took the city by See also:assault, to 1864, when its See also:garrison yielded to See also:Colonel See also:Gordon's See also:army. Hang-chow Fu and Su-chow. Fu, situated on the T'ai-hu, are reckoned the most beautiful cities in China. " Above there is See also:Paradise, below are Su and Hang," says a Chinese See also:proverb. Shang-See also:hai is the chief port in the province. In 1909 it was connected by railway (270 M. See also:long) via Su-Chow and See also:Chin-kiang with Nanking. Tea and See also:silk are the principal articles of See also:commerce produced in Kiang-su, and next in importance are See also:cotton, See also:sugar and medicines.

The silk manufactured in the looms of Su-chow is famous all over the See also:

empire. In the mountains near Nanking, See also:coal, See also:plumbago, See also:iron ore and See also:marble are found. Shang-hai, Chin-kiang, Nanking and Su-chow are the treaty ports of the province.

End of Article: KIAKHTA

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