Kiachta

Kiachta, or KIAKHTA, a town of the Russian province of Transbaikalia in Siberia, stands on a tributary of the Selenga, 165 miles SE. from Irkutsk, and close to the Chinese frontier, being only separated by a piece of neutral ground, 150 or 200 yards broad, from the Chinese town of Maimatechin. The place stands in a desolate valley, and along with two other settlements, one 10 miles, the other 2½ miles distant, has a population of 9000 inhabitants. Kiachta was appointed by the treaty of Nertchinsk in 1689 the sole trading place between China and Russia; but down to 1727 the general trade did not flourish much, because the imperial crown reserved the fur trade as a monopoly in its own hands. From 1727 celebrated fairs were held here in December, when Russian furs and cotton, cloth, and leather were exchanged for tea, silk goods, &c. But since the treaty of Peking (1860), when the treaty ports of China were thrown open to Russian vessels and trade was declared legitimate all along the Russo-Chinese frontier, the trade at Kiachta has declined. The Russian goods are valued at £500,000 a year, the Chinese at £2,000,000.