The Yangtze River has been the “Golden Waterway”since ancient times. Nowadays, the construction of a support belt of an upgraded version of the economy relies on Yangtze River, so does the further implement the strategy of promoting the rise of the central region. Thus, Yichang, which located in the city group of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, is facing a major strategic opportunity to construct a modern megacity. When reviewing the history of Yichang, we can find that Yichang had passively opened its door to the world 100 years ago.
　　Rice, Tung Oil and Chuan Salt were Major Trade Products in Yichang during the Late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
　　According to The First Draft of the Record of Yichang County (compiled in 25 years of the Republic of China), Yichang bordered Sichuan Province and Hubei Province, which was a must channel for the transport of goods. There were various goods in transit as well as in distribution. Although the local specialties were not abundant, the species belonged to propagation. If the grain produced by the local was not sufficient, people would purchase grain from Sichuan and Hunan. The output of tea and silk were not high. The cotton and cloth were sold to the upper reaches of Yangtze River. The herbs, mushrooms and furs of cattle and sheep were transported to the lower reaches of Yangtze River. The tallow seed oil can be Pided into peel oil and seed oil. The peel oil was transported to Wuhan and distributed to abroad. There were less than 20 thousand loads of peel oil each year. While the seed oil transported to Wuhan were more than thousands loads, which were worth of 300,000 tael of silver. This was the major local product in Yichang. The record of Yichang Business also said Yichang had a long history of business. It has always been the distributing centre of local specialty in western Hubei and the transshipment port for goods transported into and out of Sichuan province. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, Zhenjiang pavilion was built in the river side as the grain trade center of Yangtze River Basin.
　　In 1853, Chuan salt replaced Huai salt and sold well in Hubei province and Hunan province. The annual sales reached 60,000 tons which made the Chuan salt replaced the position of Chuan rice and made it became the biggest deal in the goods. Yichang became a distributing centre of Chuan salt sold to Hubei province. The transportation of Chuan salt to the lower Yangtze region made the transshipment trade of Yichang flourishing. According to The Record of East Lake County recorded that thousands of people sculled every day. At night, there were thousands of lights. The largest number of boaters could be up to 10 to 20 thousand people, forming a prosperous scene. 
　　The property of the port promoted the development of Yichang city and business. Over 40 streets were formed around Gulou Street and Suotang Street. Various firms were located in the city center. Their business was booming. Many main streets, including Dananmenwai Zhengjie, Dadongmenwai Zhengjie, Dabeimenwai Zhengjie were very flourishing. The customers on Shanghe Street, Xiahe Street and Waihe Street were mainly boat people. Taverns, teahouse, shops were flourishing with the time. There were around 1,300 shops in Yichang at that time.
　　Transshipment Trade in its Prime after Setting of Customs
　　In 1876, the Qing government signed the unequal treaty, Sino-British Yantai Treaty. Yichang served as a trading port. Foreign merchants, mainly came from England, went to Yichang and established foreign firms. Among those firms, most of them ran business except a few ran ship transport. After the establishment of customs and opening navigation, a commercial hub formed in Yichang. People transported industrial goods to the southwest provinces in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and transported agricultural and sideline native products to the southeast provinces in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The expanding of transhipment trade also further promoted the development of the city. The city district extended to the southeast. Along the river, various new streets formed, many foreign firms and companies were mostly concentrated here.
　　In April, 1877, the Yichang Customs was formally established. It carried out the customs commissioner total responsibility system. The first customs commissioner was a British named T. Dick. Since then, the British held the position for 60 years. The Tax Pision began levying import and export duties. The cargo vessel can export directly. This convenient condition stimulated the development of transit trade.
　　In 1878, the “Yiling” Ship of the British Leadery Firm successfully underwent river trail from Hankou to Wuchang. The ship transportation line from Shanghai to Wuhan was extended to Yichang, which greatly sped up the turnover of the goods. Yichang became a turnover center. In this year, the total foreign goods transported from Yichang to Sichuang were worth of 15,223 tael of silver, 164,272 tael of silver in 1879, 989,188 tael of silver in 1880, and 4,000,000 tael of silver in 1881. In 1901, the import goods of Yichang totaled 19.42 million tael of silver.
　　After the port opening, numerous foreign businessmen came to Yichang, they set up offices, hired Chinese compradors, sold industrial products and purchased cheap raw materials. Yichang Customer Annals records that by the year of 1877, there were“100,000 Ethnic Chinese” and “70 foreigners”. Folk sailing ships berthed along the West Dam, Zhengchuanmen and Dananmen. The boaters were as many as 10,000 people. Within 7 years, a total of 41 merchant ships from Britain, Germany, Russia, France, Japan, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Switzerland and other countries came to Yichang for business. On May 19, Zheng Xingzai, a former director of the Foreign Affairs Office, told reporters that "Since foreign merchants entered Yichang, it has undergone a qualitative change." British merchants were the first batch. Japanese accounted for the largest proportion. Merchants from the United States, Germany, France, Italy and other countries all had a place in Yichang. Today the southeast of the Yunji Road, the south of the Peach Blossom Mountain, the South Lake, the northwest area from Dananmen to Wanshouqiao all belonged to the big powers’ sphere of influence. The Peach Blossom Mountain located in the side of South Lake with clear water, dense forests and fresh air. Powers and foreign manufacturers raced to seize the Peach Blossom Mountain to build mansion, residence, sports and entertainment venues. Foreign businessmen are free to choose the location to build firms, docks, warehouses and oil baths along the river. Zhen Xingzai said, “At that time, the exact number of foreigners in Yichang was not clear. But we have exchanged views with the multi-sector; we all agreed that the total number was no less than 300.” Many businessmen purchased raw material and sold industrial products for foreign businessmen. The industrial products were mainly specialties, silk, department stores, etc.
　　 　From 1912 to 1925, China\'s treaty ports further increased. 21 New ports were newly opened; these ports were almost all located inland, which greatly facilitated the dumping of goods and acquisition of raw materials from the broader region of China. Therefore, the foreign trade of China got a rapid development.
　　In 1891, the Qing government levied opium tax in Yichang and permitted “public sale of opium”. So the total volume of imports and exports of goods surged, which lead the abnormal development of business. Yangtze River cargo flow multiplied. The transit trade of Yichang rose perpendicularly. In addition to Chinese businessmen, the central banks of foreign countries also hired Chinese wooden boats to do business between Yichang and Chongqing. Compared with 1891, the amount of boat in 1892 has increased by 2 times. The cargo capacities increased 3.5 times. In 1898, a ship named “Lichuan” was successfully trailed to Chongqing by the British tradesman Leadership. 
　　In 1907, the "Shu Tong" ship from Huashang Chuanjiang Steamship Company traveled between Yichang and Chongqing twice a month, which opened a commercial transportation line. After 1914, dozens of shipping companies have been established one after another. They constructed docks, berths and competed in transportation business in Yichang. With the increasing tonnage of vessels, Competition between companies was increasingly fierce and the transportation expense decreased, which stimulated the exchange of goods between Sichuan and Hubei. The transit trade of Yichang came into its heyday. In 1924, the net value of import and export reached over 17 million tael of silver, setting a highest record of Yichang net imports and exports.
　　In 1922, in order to collect military funds, Yichang was franchised by the Northern Army to "public sales of opium" again. Yichang became opium Sino-trans centralized city for Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. The total value of exports of opium was worth of ten million yuan (silver dollar). Tobacco companies gathered around Yichang. The urban population of Yichang soared. The migrants and the total resident population reached 20 million. The opium trade led to the development of other consumer goods trade. This period was called "golden age" by many businessmen.
　　    Japanese business entered Yichang: a great impact on local business
　　In the book “Brief History of Yichang Customs", the powers’ plan of Yichang is recorded in detail: in the future, being a center of distributing foreign goods to the mainland market, Yichang could become a local and second-hand goods processed products receiving market to the east coast and Europe. In fact, until 1945, Yichang customs always had a large trade volume and vast distributing area. The summary list of tobacco input of each customs in 1918 showed that, of 29 countrywide tobacco input ports, Yichang customs accounted for 8.28%, only less than Zhenjiang, more than Shanghai, Nanjing, Hankou. Yichang customs has traded with 9 provinces in the Yangtze River basin and 18 countries and regions. 
　　In the book "Tour Across the Chinese Mainland ", the Japanese writer Nakano Gushan put it down that Yichang，a capital a thousand miles away from Shanghai，was on the left bank of the Yangtze River which started from the Three Gorges and ended in Shanghai. Thousands of vessels often docked at Yichang Port, handling the import and export here. All ships passing the Three Gorges or leaving for Hankou, Shanghai, Xiajiang took Yichang as a base.
　　In the nineteenth years of the Republic of China (1930), Yichang City dismantled the city walls. In the following year, four roads were built along the walls’ foundation: East Ring Road, South Ring Road, West Ring Road and North Ring Road. The business districts inside and outside city were connected with each other, forming a city center of 5 km long and 0.5 km wide which started from Ziyun Palace ( now Sanjiang Bridge) in the north, Mobil oil pool( now port office ) in the south. Huitong Road (now Jiefang Road), Erjiapaifang (now Xinmin Road), Gulou Road, Nanmanwaizheng Road and Dagong Road were the most prosperous business districts.
　　In 1899 Japanese business entered Yichang, Osaka Merchant Shipping established shipping company at first, and then changed it into Nissin. They built three warehouses in Binjiang Road, conducting shipping and storage.
　　Ma Yuncheng, a 96-year-old citizen, recalled that at that time, Japanese opened more than 30 firms, companies, shops and kinds of museum hall in Yichang. Over 840 kinds of Japanese goods were exhibited in three months. Owing to Japanese shopping spree on cotton and rice cereal in Yichang, they were out of stock and the price rose suddenly. When it came with wars between warlords, it was really a hardship. Zheng Xingzai recalled that Japanese often dumped commodity to Yichang people and they slipped cigarettes under the door. “We were small at that time, we didn’t dare to pick them up, only noticed the cigarette box is very beautiful, with “Xiaodaiying” brand, 10 in one box and a small picture on the box.”     
　　Around 1912, the British trader Asia, Texaco and the American trader Mobil sold imported oil in Yichang. The Asia constructed several oil pools along Yangtze River near Wanshou Bridge storing more than 14,000 tons of oil. Every firm had its own pool and tanker dock. Due to the imported oil selling in Yichang, the annual outflow of silver dollar reached more than five million yuan.
　　Deng Yaonan，the third generation owner of Dengxianghe Cotton Store, established Guanghua Oil Company cooperatively. Soon after domestic oil entered market, three foreign traders, the Asia, Mobil and Texaco, cut the oil price from 9.4 yuan to 2.7 yuan per case and implemented sell on credit for half or one month. As a result, Guanghua Oil Company was out of business in less than half a year. Later on, those three traders quickly raised prices to 11 yuan per case，recouping all the cut loss within half a year. Yichang oil market was monopolized by foreigners.  
　　Khalid le, the first British trader who opened shipment from Yichang to Sichuang Province
　　Talking about the foreign investment, Zheng Xingzai said, "More simply, foreign traders tended to invest in southwest after they did investigations in Yichang. Khalid le is the first British trader who opened shipment from Yichang to Sichuang Province.”
　　Khalid le，who was a Mancunian，came to China in 1859 to make a fortune. He married Archi Pod, whose father was a British official of Shanghai Municipal Council Bureau, and he established Khalid le foreign firm. When Yichang port opened to outside world, he was the first to go there and established his firm on riverbank. He rushed to register import and shipping customs clearance, specializing in coal selling. He hired a Chinese named Wang Dingbang driving “Yi Ling” to carry goods and passengers on Han Yi lane, which was escorted by Merchants Group.   
　　Khalid le dreamed to drive to Chongqing and then to southwest. In February 1883, he started to sail from Hankou to Chongqing through Yichang by wooden boat. After 40 days of hard sailing, he arrived in Chongqing and wrote “Travels through the Yangtze River Three Gorges”, which caused a sensation in the West. In 1884, he purchased “Yi Ling”, carrying goods and passengers on Yichang and Hankou routes to accumulate capital money as well as sailing experience.  
　　In 1887, Khalid le financed ten thousand pounds establishing Chuanjiang Steamship Company. They produced “Gu Ling”, with more horsepower than “Yi Ling”, and planed to sail to Sichuan.
　　"Yichang Chorography" records that on February 15, 1898, as a captain, Khalid le himself left Yichang by driving “Li Chuan”. Due to lack of horsepower, he hired boat trackers at high prices as he came to rapids and swift sections such as Xintan, Gunzijiao, Yetan. At Xinglongtan, as many as three hundred boat trackers were employed. In the morning of March 9, the ship arrived in Chongqing. After Khalid le’s successful experience to Chongqing, many foreign businessmen followed to open various kinds of firms in Chongqing. Due to the influx of foreign yarn, local yarn suffered a price cut. The price of Chongqing bristle and local products rose up owing to foreigners’ large requirement. According to the data, the price of Chongqing bristle increased 27% one year after “Li Chuan” arrived in Chongqing.
　　Gong Yaqin, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Archives Bureau, said that the shipment opening opened the door of resources plunder by Western powers. But it also promoted foreign trade and economic development in Yichang and Chongqing. Great changes took place in every aspect of economy and society.
　　It was a “Sino-foreign coexistence” period
　　Sino-foreign coexistence was a great impact to Yichang on its politics, ideology as well as its economy. For a time, foreign goods flooded market, foreign schools, foreign churches, western restaurants, foundling hospitals and Bole parlors sprung up everywhere in Yichang City.
　　Ma Yuncheng said that foreigners could be seen everywhere on Tonghui Road. They came to Chinese restaurants and also spoke Chinese but they were not very friendly to Chinese people. He recalled that two Portuguese brothers established a brick factory and they made very special brick and tile, much larger than local ones. These brothers also opened a tennis court behind the former Cultural Affairs. Many foreigners went there to play tennis.  
　　At that time, the Pacific Hotel, Intercontinental Hotel and Manyi Hotel were all home to foreigners. On today’s Yima Road, there was a foreigner’s bakery. Also foreigner’s club on Zhixiang Road, called “Bole Parlor” at that time. There was a red house called “Weifu Parlor” opposite the Nanhu Hotel, which were western restaurants we call now. 
　　Chen Zhongxiao, 88 years old, had been a waiter in a restaurant. He was once stabbed by a Japanese who was eating and drinking there. “Nobody will apologize or take the responsibility. I had to go to hospital by myself and at last I got eight stitches.” A long scar is still on his right arm.
　　“There is an English man named Pu Lantian contributing to the shipment opening.” Zheng Xingzai once wrote an article titled “An Englishman’s Dedication in the Three Gorges” to record him, who was the patrol, building bungalow at Qingtan “Sidaling” as his office. He taught boatmen, helmsmen to drive iron ship in workshop, which trained a large number of maritime personnel.
　　“On the dike dam, we can often see the painted Chinese characters \'water stop code\', Pu Lantian is the inventor.” Zheng Xingzai said, “Pu Lantian died on his way home and the two adopted children were entrusted to Mu Bingqian, who was running a school in Yichang. After liberation, Wen Simiao, one of Pu Lantian’s descendants, came to Qingtan when he came to Yichang for his ancestor’s footprint.”
　　According to “Yichang Region: Introduction”, after Yichang port opened to outside world, owing to the invasion and the Kuomingtang government corruption, Yichang foreign trade was in recession and the national economy suffered greatly, which was a disaster for Yichang people. It was not until Yichang Local Trading Company was established in September 1949 that foreign trade in Yichang started to develop gradually.  　(Reporter: Xiao Ming, correspondent: Cheng Xiyong)