Before and after the opening of Yantai, the missionary activities carried out by foreign missionaries in urban and rural areas of Yantai were an important aspect of the invasion of Yantai and the mainland by western countries. They took the church as their stronghold and cooperated with their own government to carry out economic and cultural aggression. At first, there were two schools of Christianity and Catholicism in Yantai, among which Christianity was divided into Presbyterian Church, Inland Church and Baptist Church. 1855, the English missionary Wei and his wife of Presbyterian Church went to Yantai Tongsheng Port to preach, which was the earliest missionary activity of foreign missionaries in Shandong. After the opening of Yantai, American Presbyterian pastor Mai Jia and missionary Guo Xiande came to Yantai in June 5438 +08621October +65438 +0864. They lived in Zhuji first, then built a church at Yuhuangding, and established Yantai Presbyterian Church in May 1866, 1926. By 19 13, the church had developed more than 1000 members; By 1936, the number of Christians had risen to more than 3,700. After the opening of Yantai, the churches established by various Christian factions in Yantai mainly include: Christian Baptist Church, Yuhuangding Chinese Christian Church, Christian Dongshan Church (Mainland Church), YMCA, Christian Salvation Army, etc. There are 20 Christian churches and evangelical churches, all over Yantai. Among them, the Christian Baptist Church is the largest and can accommodate 700 people.
Catholicism is another major religion in Yantai. 1868, Italian Catholic priest Angie Lu Si went to Yantai to preach and set up a church. 1886, Maria entered Notre Dame de Kyonosuke in Yantai Coast Street. From 65438 to 0894, Chang Mingde, a French priest, established the Catholic Oriental Parish in Yantai as the first bishop, in charge of missionary activities in more than 30 counties in Denglaiqing Road, Shandong Province. 1924, Shandong dongjie parish was renamed Yantai parish, which governs Dengzhou, Laizhou and Qingzhou, with about 25,000 followers, including Yantai 1300. At that time, the Franciscans of Notre Dame de Paris also came to Yantai and established the buddhist nun. By the end of 1930s, Yantai had three Catholic churches and three nunneries.
After the introduction of Catholicism, in order to expand their influence, publicize their teachings and develop their followers, the priests, while preaching and preaching, also set up a large number of social undertakings, such as middle schools, primary schools, orphanages, hospitals, libraries, embroidery factories and vegetable gardens.
Before the opening of Yantai, except for some villages such as Tongshan, Haiyang, Xihe and Shangcheng, there were only two places with the nature of urban germination. One is "Qishan thousands of households against Taiwan", commonly known as "lock the city." The walls are all brick, 7.33 meters high and 6.67 meters thick. The urban area is about 79,600 square meters, and the urban perimeter is more than 1 km. There are four gates in the city, namely, East Gate Baode, West Gate Xuanhua, South Gate Fulu and North Gate Chaochong. There is a moat around the city, which is 1 1.67 meters wide and 3.33 meters deep ... The other is near Tianhou Palace, where the east-west street is 1 many miles long, and thousands of businessmen set up stalls here to do business. These two places are different. The former has a city without a city, while the latter has a city without a city. Between these two places and around each village, there are fields and farmland.
Since Yantai Port was opened to the outside world in August, 186 1, a large number of mainland laborers began to flow to the coast and live in Yantai. This is the foundation of the rise and development of Yantai city. According to statistics, after the opening of the port 10, the total number of people engaged in various industries has reached more than 30,000, including 250 foreigners. Among these 30,000 people, people engaged in port activities account for 40% of the employees, mainly sampans and port stevedores. Other industries such as commerce accounted for 29.6%, inns for 7.6%, customs and yamen employees for 1. 1%, foreign firms and local employees for 0.7%, and vendors for 16.9%. It can be said that the activities of employees at that time were mainly carried out around the port.
In the early days of port opening, the development of Yantai city mainly focused on the expansion of Yantai Mountain and Tianhou Palace. Since the opening of Yantai, it was the British who first bought land to build a consulate on Yantai Mountain. Following Britain, France, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Japan and other countries have set up consulates in Yantai Mountain, foreign firms, banks, post offices, churches, hospitals, schools, hotels and clubs have been set up at the foot of Yantai Mountain, and consulates and foreigners' associations have gradually formed here.
China people's residential area is located around Tianhou Palace. Before Yantai opened, it was a commodity distribution center in Yantai. After the port was opened, most of the goods in Yantai Port were traded here, and it became a trade center. Businessmen and port stevedores also live here. According to the records at that time, with the increase of population, people rushed to buy land and built more than 10 thousand houses. After three or five years of opening, Yantai moved from desolation to prosperity. 19 In the 1990s, the urban market extended to the west, and the odd mountains connected to the south, forming the initial prototype of Yantai city.
The second great development of Yantai City was during the construction of the east and west breakwaters of Yantai Port and 20 years after its completion.
The development of cities is mainly reflected in the development of urban population. From the opening of Yantai to 189 1, about 500 immigrants settled in Yantai every year. By 189 1, the working population of Yantai was * * * 35,000, and by 1909 it increased to 95,000, with an average annual increase. After the completion of the east-west breakwater in Yantai Port, the number of people who came to settle in Yantai increased even faster. 1922 was 83,000, and 193 1 year increased to 13 1000, which increased by 48,000 in nine years, with an average annual increase of 5,000.
Of course, we can't attribute all the population growth of Yantai to the construction of Yantai Port, but the construction of the port has improved the investment conditions for Yantai. During the period from 19 18 to 1932, 10 national shipping enterprises settled in Yantai, with more than 50 ships with a tonnage of about 80,000 tons. The rise of national industry was marked by Changyu Grape Brewing Company founded by Zhang Bishi, an overseas Chinese in Nanyang, and cigarette industry, electric power industry, match industry, flour industry, soap making industry, cotton textile industry, hardware industry, rubber making industry, hair net industry and lace industry came into being. These industries have become the main body of the early development of Yantai's national industries. By 1933, the total industrial capital was 4.596 million yuan, and the total industrial output value was 7.338+0,000 yuan. The mutual promotion and development of ports and port ethnic industries provide more employment opportunities for people, thus attracting more people to settle in Yantai.
With the increase of population, the geographical scope of Yantai has also expanded year by year. With Yantai Mountain as the center, it fanned out in three directions: east, south and west. There were hundreds of streets in Yantai at that time. The main streets are North Street and West Street, which cross the city center and show an east-west trend. On the south side are Laoguangrentang Street and Nanhong Street. Anren Street, Baishan Street, Rulin Street, Taohua Street, Chua Street and Shishou Street run through the north and south of the city.