An American Engineer in China

First published in 1900, this account of an American engineer's travels explores the industrial and economic development of China.

William Barclay Parsons (Author)

9781108052764, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 June 2012

326 pages, 66 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 1.9 cm, 0.42 kg

By the late nineteenth century, twenty-nine Chinese ports were open for foreign trade. Often run by foreign commissioners and no longer subject to the stringent local laws, these ports levied one of the smallest import taxes in the world, and Chinese commerce therefore exploded. Originally published in 1900, this account by William Barclay Parsons (1859–1932) investigates the ensuing surge of economic and industrial development in the eastern provinces. Including an introduction to China's history and the structure of its civil service, the book analyses the corrupt but ingenious world of customs officials, the importance of American cotton interests, and export statistics which reveal the multimillion-dollar smuggling operations that slipped around official embargoes. Set against a backdrop of electric lights and western labels in even the most closed of cities, this book offers a fascinating glimpse into the early stages of today's global market.

1. China
2. American concession
3. Hu-nan, the closed province of China
4. My Chinese impressions
5. Commerce and commercial relations
6. Finances of China
7. Chinese construction
8. Inland communication
9. Railways
10. The Yellow Peril
11. China in the twentieth century.

Subject Areas: Civil engineering, surveying & building [TN]