credits much of its progress to the Central Azucarera de Bais, the largest producer of raw sugar in Negros Oriental. Established by the Real Compañía-General de Tabacos de Filipinas, S.A. of Spain in the early 1900s, it is also the pioneer in the sugar industry in the Philippines. This industry reached its peak in the 1930s bringing affluence to the Negrenses and enabling them to build stately homes and to acquire properties all over the province. Driving through the city's main national highway, sugar plantations can immediately be seen on both sides of the road. These areas are characterized by expansive lowlands that stretch as far as the eyes can see and are ideal for sugar planting because of the city's naturally fertile soil. It is no wonder why 73% of the city's total land area is devoted primarily to agriculture. The Central Azucarera de Bais itself is an old foreboding structure of metal and hard wood. The offices may have seen better days, the dank smell of nostalgia hang heavy in the air, but are still functional. Nearby is the Casa Grande, an equally old residential compound surrounded by tall acacia trees, which was built for the use of the employees of the Azucarera. The two-storey wooden houses are greatly influenced by old Spanish design and architecture. Much of the houses have undergone restoration and continue to be used as homes of the representatives of the executives of the new management. Further south are the stately plantation houses owned by sugar planters, mostly standing on one of the lots in the family hacienda. Inside the haciendas are chapels whose altar and icons date back to 1917. Educational visits to these places may be arranged at the Bais City Tourism Office. Visitors get to tour via the old railroad trams used by the milling companies to hasten sugar cane transport. Geography Located from the provincial capital Dumaguete, it has a land area of . There are two bays in the area, hence the name "Bais." The shore line is mostly mangroves, which are in danger of destruction due to the increasing population. The richness of marine life in the bays is because of these mangroves. Bais’s name is derived from the Visayan word "ba-is" for brackish-water eel – a fish species native to the city and one which has become the city's delicacy. A former barrio and later a municipality,