YEN-T'AI

Pinyin Yantai, conventional Chefoo port city on the northern coast of Shantung sheng (province), China. It was traditionally known as Chih-fu, which was the name of the island that protects Yen-t'ai's fine natural deepwater harbour, where a port has been located from early times. The name Yen-t'ai (Beacon Tower) derives from a lookout beacon built as part of the 15th-century coastal defense system erected against Japanese pirates. The port was occupied by an Anglo-French force in 1860, and in 1863 was opened to international commerce as a treaty port. It achieved some fame as the site of negotiations between the British and Chinese that resulted in the Chefoo Convention (1876), which opened new treaty ports to trade and led to China's sending its first minister to the Court of St. James's in London. Although Yen-t'ai was a treaty port, it had no foreign concession or settlement. Considerable numbers of foreign traders lived there, however, and a flourishing trade grew up in the late 19th century, consisting partly of exports of silk, beans, and local produce from Shantung and partly of imports from the West. Goods were also transshipped from steamships to the junks serving the small coastal ports of northern Shantung and Hopeh. In the decade 18911901 the city's population almost doubled. Yen-t'ai's commerce was, however, almost ruined by the development of Tsingtao by the Germans after 1898. By 1904 a rail link connected Tsingtao with Chi-nan, after which the export trade of Shantung became concentrated at the better port of Tsingtao. As a result, Yen-t'ai and the other ports of northern Shantung stagnated. Its revival began in 1956 when it was linked by rail with Lan-ts'un, just north of Tsingtao. By the early 1970s Yen-t'ai had developed into a local market and collecting centre for the agriculture of the peninsula. It is also a major fishing port. It has a variety of industries, including flour milling, tobacco processing, and the canning of fish, meat, vegetables, and fruit, as well as wine making and brandy distilling. Ships are repaired at the port, and there are various manufactures connected with the shipping and fishing industries. A small-scale iron and steel complex was founded in 1967, manufacturing such machinery as diesel engines, mostly for local agricultural use. In 1984 Yen-t'ai was designated one of China's open cities in the new open-door policy of inviting foreign trade and investment. Pop. (1989 est.) 422,500.