Jinan ~ 济南/濟南
TsiJapanese Consulate in Tsinan
OOn July 28, 1937 G.H. Thomas writes:
The Japanese powers have promised not to bombard Peking. .... The only local news is that most of the Japanese consular staff in Tsinan have left the city for Tsingtao. This is a bad sign because the consular staff usually stays until the last moment.
The o
sinan, now Jinan (also known in Japan as Sainan), is the capital and transportation hub of Shantung, now Shandong. Industrial development thrived before the Japanese invasion of East China in 1937. Heavily damaged during the war, it has been largely rebuilt. Today it has a population of over 5.6 million. Once bereft of roadways, today Shandong has numerous expressways that form a crisscross network with the provincial capital, Jinan, at the center, connecting the province's 17 major cities and 106 counties.
Could this be Bruges? No, it is the German Church in Tsinan, and located on the campus of Shandong University.
A main road in Tsinan in 1920's or 30's.
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On July 5, 1937 G.H. Thomas writes:
I am going to the Tsinan office for a month. In the Yellow River hot belt, Tsinan is a large city of half a million people or more, with a handful of foreigners—just men now as the women are always sent to Tsingtao for the summer months. There is a small club with perhaps a dozen members, and a tennis court, so I have bought a tennis racket in preparation. I will live in the Stein Hotel, run by an old German who has clean rooms and good German food.
On July 14, 1937:
I am hoping that the affair at Marco Polo Bridge near Peking will be relegated to the long list of “incidents.” I hope so with all my heart, but I am afraid this time the lid is off.... It is hard to realize that possible war is at hand.
Japan will never get China — never — but China must fight. It may be defeated this time and even for the next ten years, but eventually Japan will be driven out of China, out of Manchukuo and back to its own islands, where it belongs.
Tsinan in 1920's or 30's.
Aug. 17, 1937
The time has come for me to be evacuated. The Japanese consul and all remaining Japanese in town are leaving on a special train at 6:30 this morning. My train will leave at 10:10 tonight and get to Tsingtao about 8 tomorrow morning. ... Capt. Frank Dorn, a U.S. Army observer in town to watch activities, thinks we might be in for a two-year war of major proportions.
for its lakes and natural springs. Unfortunately, the city's industrialisation and dust storms reduce its once-spectacular beauty. To increase domestic and foreign tourism, however, it has recently embarked on an urban beautification plan and a reduction in the pollution level.
Its grand facade underlines the importance of Tsinan as a major hub of trains from
Tsingtao, Tientsin and Shanghai.
This early 20th-century map of Old Tsinan shows a splendid system of canals and lakes.
