SHASI  , a

city in the province of Hu-peh, China, on the left bank of the river Yangtsze, about 85 m. below Ich'ang . Pop. about 8o,000 . It was opened to foreign trade under the Japanese treaty of 1895 . The town lies below the summer level of the Yangtsze, from which it is protected by a strong embankment . Formerly Shasi was a great distributing centre, but the opening of . Ich'ang to foreign trade diverted much of the traffic to the last-named port . It is the terminus of an extensive network of canals which run through the low country lying on the north bank of the Yangtsze as far down as Hankow . Native boats, as a rule, prefer the canal route to the turbulent waters of the Yangtsze, their cargoes being transhipped at Shasi across the embankment into river boats . Foreign residents are few, and the trade passing through the maritime customs is comparatively insignificant . The place is still, however, a large distributing centre for native trade, and is the seat of an extensive manufacture of native cotton cloth . The British consulate was withdrawn in January 1899, British interests being placed under the care of the consul at Ich'ang .