Travels of a Consular officer in North West China; with original maps of Shensi and Kansu and illus. by photographs (1921) (14788067513)

Identifier: consularoffic00teicuoft (find matches)
Title: Travels of a Consular officer in North West China; with original maps of Shensi and Kansu and illus. by photographs
Year: 1921 (1920s)
Authors: Teichman, Eric, Sir, 1884-
Subjects: China -- Description and travel
Publisher: Cambridge, Univ. Press
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN



Text Appearing Before Image:
u. From the Shensi-Kansu bordernear Fenghsiang Fu the line will probably keep as much aspossible to the Wei valley up to Kungchang and Weiyuan,whence it will pass through the watershed between the Weiand Tao rivers to Titao. From Titao it can either followthe Tao River down to the Yellow River, or, more probably,it will cut through the mountains direct to Lanchou Fu.This stretch contains a great many serious engineeringobstacles, and is said to entail more than forty kilometresof tunnels; nevertheless it is apparently the easiest way ofascending the three to four thousand feet from the plainsof Shensi to the plateau of Kansu, and is certainly lessformidable than the existing high road via Pingliang, whichcrosses the Liupan Shan at a height of some 9000 feet, andpasses for the rest of the way to Lanchou through mostdifficult loess country. The chief difficulties met with onthe proposed railway route are the Wei River gorges betweenPaochi in Shensi and Chinchou in Kansu, and the passage
Text Appearing After Image:
XV) RAILWAY PROJECTS 209 of the two watersheds, between Weiyuan and Titao, andbetween Titao and Lanchou. As regards the extension west towards Turkestan, thechief engineering obstacle would seem to be the passageof the Wushao Ling, 10,000 feet; the Pingfan valleyprovides an easy approach from the east, but the descentto the west is steep; there may, however, be a way roundfurther north and east, as this range, the backbone of theNan Shan, falls away in that direction. Further west theline can follow the main road, keeping if necessary a littlefurther north on the edge of the desert, all the way to thefrontiers of Turkestan without encountering any seriousobstacle. Generally speaking the Lung Hai Railway is a mostattractive proposition through Shensi, but its constructionthrough Kansu is likely to be very costly, and the trafficreturns poor. However, sooner or later railway communica-tion is bound to be established between China and CentralAsia, connecting up with the Russian line from