Kiakhta, Siberia, to Peking by way of Gugon, a distance of
about a thousand miles. This road, if built, will give the Russians
a short cut direct to the capital.

In the populous province of Shantung, a German railroad,
opened April 8, 1901, runs from Tsing-tau on Kiao-chou Bay
into the heart of the populous Shantung Province via Weihsien.
The line already reaches the capital, Chinan-fu, while
ulterior plans include a line from Tsing-tau via Ichou-fu to
Chinan-fu, so that German lines will ere long completely encircle
this mighty Province. At Chinan-fu, this road will meet
another great trunk line, partly German and partly English,
which is being pushed southward from Tien-tsin to Chin-kiang.
An English sydicate, known as the British-Chinese Corporation,
is to control a route from Shanghai via Soochow and
Chin-kiang to Nanking and Soochow via Hangchow to Ningpo,
while the Anglo-Chinese Railway Syndicate of London is said
to be planning a railway from Canton to Cheng-tu-fu, the provincial
capital of Sze-chuen. Meanwhile, the original line from
Shanghai to Wu-sung has been reconstructed by the English.

One of the most valuable concessions in China has been obtained
by the Anglo-Italian Syndicate in the Provinces of
Shan-si and Shen-si for it gives the right to construct railways
and to operate coal mines in a region where some of the most
extensive anthracite deposits in the world are located. A beginning
has already been made, and when the lines are completed,
the industrial revolution in China will be mightily advanced.

An alleged Belgian syndicate, to which was formed with then