WEI-HAI

also called Wei-hai-wei, Pinyin Weihai, or Weihaiwei, port city, Shantung sheng (province), China. It lies on the north coast of the Shantung Peninsula. Until the 14th century Wei-hai was no more than a minor fishing village, but in 1398, as part of the coastal defense policy against the raids of Japanese pirates, it became a military strongpoint (wei). It was fortified with walls almost 2 miles (3 km) in circumference in 1406. The port has a fine natural harbour, surrounded by mountains some 1,300 feet (400 m) high on the landward side and sheltered to seaward by Liu-kung Island. In the 1880s the island was developed into a naval base for the newly founded Chinese Peiyang (North Ocean) Fleet. Together with Port Arthur (L-shun), in Liaoning province, to the north of Pohai Strait, it was to control the entrance to the Po Hai (Gulf of Chihli). During the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) the Japanese destroyed the remnants of the Chinese fleet there and took the base without difficulty. In 1898, when the Russians leased Port Arthur on the northern shore of the strait, the British forced the Chinese to lease them Wei-hai. Under the name Port Edward it remained a summer station for the British fleet until 1923 and enjoyed the status of a free port. Its communications, however, were poor, and its hinterland consisted of unproductive mountains, so that it never flourished as a trading port. The British voluntarily relinquished their lease in 1930, after which Wei-hai reverted to Chinese administration. From 1938 to 1945 it was occupied by the Japanese. The population declined sharply after 1948, when it was 175,000. In 1949 it had again become a base for the Chinese Navy. Modern Wei-hai is a small commercial and fishing port, with such minor industries as oil pressing and silk and cotton textile manufacturing plants. It has no rail link, although there is a highway to Yen-t'ai (Chefoo) and to Tsingtao. Pop. (1990) 128,888.