Page:A wandering student in the Far East vol.1 - Zetland.djvu/84

50 between Shanghai and Ch'ung-k'ing, and occupies a commanding position upon the greatest of all the avenues of approach to the vast regions of Western China.

It is perhaps superfluous to add that its unique situation was not lost upon the pioneers of British trade, and that for upwards of forty years the lordly houses and residences of British merchants have formed a conspicuous and familiar object in the landscape. With a facility which continental Europe has always shown for following in the wake of British pioneers, Russia, France, Germany, Belgium, and Japan have appeared successively upon the scene, and have each at the present time their own concession. These, with the huddled agglomeration of native buildings on the left banks of the Han and the Yang-tsze rivers, constitute one section of a triple town. On the right bank of the Han lies Han Yang, the playground of a Viceroy's industrial ambition; and across the mile-wide channel of the Yang-tsze stands Wuchang, the