T'ANG-KU

Pinyin Tanggu, town in eastern China, on the Hai River and the Gulf of Chihli. It lies on the TientsinShen-yang (Mukden) railroad and is an important shipping point. T'ang-ku is also an outport for the city of Tientsin, 30 miles (48 km) west-northwest. The town has long been important for its salt field. During the Ming dynasty (13681644) production was supervised by specially appointed feudal officials. Between 1969 and 1974 the Chinese enlarged the fields; they straightened the sides and leveled the bottoms of 10,600 acres (4,300 ha) of channels, shallow ponds, and crystallizing pans and reclaimed a further 4,450 acres from the Gulf of Chihli. The field supplies a large proportion of the salt used in China's industry and food. Pop. (mid-1970s est.) 10,00050,000.