PAI-CH'ENG

formerly T'ao-an, Pinyin Baicheng, city, northwestern Kirin sheng (province), China. The region was originally a hunting ground reserved for the Mongols and was not opened for legitimate colonization by the Chinese until 1902; it is now an area of extensive agriculture, with pastoral activities playing a major role. Pai-ch'eng was first established as a county seat, called Ching-an, in 1904; it remained a place of minor importance until the opening of the railway from Tsitsihar to Ssu-p'ing in 1920. In 1930 another line was opened to Wu-lan-hao-t'e (now K'o-erh-ch'in-yu-i-ch'ien-ch'i, in Inner Mongolia), enabling Pai-ch'eng to become the market centre for the Mongolian border area; another line to the east was constructed by the Japanese in the 1930s. Pai-ch'eng had only a small population at the end of World War II, with a generating plant and a paper mill but little industry. Since 1949 more small-scale industry has been established, based on local agriculture, but Pai-ch'eng remains essentially a commercial centre. Coal mines are located nearby. Pop. (1990) 217,987.