C. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF CHINA PROPER

Province 4: Ho-nan [Henan]

The province of Ho-nan is bounded on the N. partly by the Yellow River (which it crosses to the west of Ho-nan Foo, forming an arm northwards between the provinces of Shan-se and Chih-li), on the W. by Shen-se, on the S. by hoo-pih, and on the e. by Gan-hwuy. It occupies an area of 65,404 square miles, and contains nine prefectural cities. Its capital is Ho-nan Foo. The prefecture of Hwae-king, north of the Yellow River, consists of a fertile plain, "rendered park-like by numerous plantations of trees and shrubs, among which thick bosquets of bamboo contrast with the gloomy groves of cypress." All kinds of cereal grow luxuriantly, and the general productiveness of the district is indicated by the extreme denseness of the population. The most noticeable feature in that portion of the province which is properly called Ho-nan, or "south of the River," is the Foo-new Shan range, which runs east and west across this part of the province. As the Kwn-lun range, it forms an almost impassable barrier between Kokonor and Tibet, and in China it separates completely the northern from the central provinces. Coal is found on the south of the Yellow River in the districts of Ho-nan Foo, Lushan, and Joo Chow. The chief products of the province are, however, agricultural, especially in the valley of the Tang-ho and Pe-ho, which is an extensive and densely populated plain running north and south from the Foo-new shan. Cotton is also grown extensively and forms the principal articles of export, and a considerable quantity of wild silk is produced form the Foo-new Shan. Three roads from the east and south unite at Ho-nan Foo, and one from the west. The southern road leads to Joo Chow, where it forks, one branch going to She-ke-chin, connecting the trade from Fan-ching, Han-kow, and the Han Rover generally, and the other to Chow-kea-kow near the city of Chin-chow Foo, at the confidence of the three rivers which unite to form the Sha-ho; the second road runs parallel with the Yellow River to Kai-fung Foo; the third crosses the Yellow River at Mang-tsin Heen, and passes thence in a north-easterly direction to Hwae-king Foo, Sew-woo Heen, and Wei-hwuy Foo, at which place it joins the high road from peking to Fan-ching; and the western road follows the southern bank of the Yellow River for 700 le to its great bend at the fortified pass known as the Tung-kwan, where it unites with the great waggon road leading through Shan-se from Peking to Se-ngan Foo.






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