Former Site of Niuzhuang Customs

Former Site of Niuzhuang Customs

The former site of Niuzhuang Customs is a cultural relic protection unit of Liaoning Province.

The former site of Niuzhuang Customs is located in Sanlou Community, Batandi Subdistrict Office, Zhanqian District, within the compound of the current International Hotel.

Yingkou Customs was one of the earliest customs established in China's northeastern region. After the Treaty of Nanjing following the First Opium War opened five ports to trade, the Second Opium War in 1856 led Britain to force the Qing government to sign the Treaty of Tianjin, which additionally opened nine ports—including Niuzhuang (later renamed Yingkou) and Dengzhou (later renamed Yantai)—for foreign trade. As a result, Yingkou became a port through which foreign powers plundered the wealth of the northeast.

The former site of Niuzhuang Customs is also known as the "Shanhai New Customs." At that time, it primarily managed steamships and foreign-type vessels, and levied taxes on goods imported and exported by them. According to the Yingkou County Annals, the Niuzhuang Customs building was constructed under the direction of the British former tax superintendent, Maddock. In 1914, Maddock selected the site, organized the design and construction, and materials were imported from Britain. The construction took eight years and was completed in 1922, with a total floor area of about 500 square meters. It is a two-story Western-style red brick structure. In 1923, Niuzhuang Customs moved to the new site at Shanhaiguan, officially named the “Shanhaiguan Tax Superintendent’s Office,” which was controlled by the British.

After the September 18th Incident in 1931, Japan invaded the northeast and forcibly occupied Shanhaiguan, renaming it the “Yingkou Customs.” The Japanese invaders exploited the northeast for 14 years, plundering substantial wealth from Yingkou Port. According to archival records, Japan shipped various beans from Yingkou Port to its own country, amounting to as much as 36,365 tons per year. In just six months, the tariff revenue looted was equivalent to 1.5 million taels of silver.

In August 1945, Japan surrendered after its defeat. A year later, in August 1946, the Nationalist government took over Yingkou Customs, initially calling it “Shanhaiguan Customs” and renaming it “Yingkou Customs” in 1947. After the liberation of Yingkou in 1948, the “Liaoning Provincial Customs” was established, later renamed the “Yingkou Tariff Bureau” and then “Yingkou Customs,” until its abolition in 1952. The site was then repurposed as the office location of the Yingkou Municipal Government, later expanded into the Liaohe Hotel, and is now the Yingkou International Hotel. In 2011, the Yingkou International Hotel carried out restoration work on the historic structure.

In 1988, the People's Government of Liaoning Province (Liaozhengfa [1988] No. 100) designated the former site of Niuzhuang Customs as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit. The scope of cultural relic protection and the construction control zone announced by the People's Government of Liaoning Province (Liaozhengfa [1993] No. 8) are as follows: the area within the surrounding walls is the protected zone; outside this zone, the area extending 6.5 meters south to the centerline of North Erdao Street, 11 meters east to the west wall of the office building, 26 meters north to the Liaohe River embankment, and 6 meters west beyond the west wall of the former site constitutes the Class I construction control zone. An additional 18.3 meters west to the east exterior wall of the Yingkou Daily News building forms the Class II construction control zone.

Source: Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, News, Radio, Television and Tourism; Contributor: Dong Wenjie

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