Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Chin-keang-foo

CHIN-KEANG-FOO, a maritime city of China, in the province of Keang-soo, at the junction of the Grand Canal with the Yang-tsze River, 48 miles E.N.E. of Nanking. It was formerly a prosperous and important city with a population of about half a million, well defended by brick walls, in many places 35 feet high, and regarded as the key of the empire towards the sea. In 1842 it yielded to the British forces after a desperate resistance. Since then, however, it has not only suffered from the aberrations of the river system of China, but it has also been laid waste by the insurgents in 1853. It was recaptured by the imperial forces in 1858, and has begun to recover its position.