JAZZ CAPTURES PEKIN

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 82, 3 October 1931, Page 22

JAZZ CAPTURES PEKIN

r Pekin, is just;beginning to discover the attractions' of jazz. ' Modern" dancing,: which.long ago' ceased to bo a iovejt f in 'Shanghai, is still a comparatively. 'n.9w> thing among the more con•erVa]tive : Northern Chinese, but there is noiquei'tibtoing its popularity now that ilie;; Craze has caught on, says the *'Bally. Express." ).-. . • ■;', :::, A.-y&tr'a£tf the former capital could feoastiot :inore. than two or three dance kails,'and the'best of these could offer nSthirig1' wore ■ ambitious than a phonogiiipii;in;the way": of music. To-day thfe're,.'are nearly a score of Chinese Jtotfeisl and: restaurants which provide dancingj-'facilitics fpr their patrons— Abfr .''apparently' do very well out of it. Sece'erarof'tKem'-arei equipped with Russiail -orchestras; some of them superjoV tb'thbse";at'the larger hotels under foreign .-management. . , . ■ , i'.lEh'esV resorts' are 'frequented .by': well? to-do-Gtiineso-of-all-ages; in addition to th'e'f.Vjoiinger modern set it is not unusual :t6-iiee:veherable grandmothers tottering aiding on bound feet to watch the rising' generation disporting itself on the dance floor. Usually 'jtherp area dozen or more mttra^tife- Chinese girls on hand as dahcibgi parsers. The yonng women act.also') as teachers, for, a Chinese ; is not ai wjhit embarrassed at trying his

MODERNISM IN CHINA

first steps, in full view of a crowded audience. ' . .

.'', So keen, is the demand for partners that several dance halls' have found it expedient to give a few warning taps on the-drum before the orchestra strikes-up. At this sigrial those who aspire to dance race across the floor to secure a partner, unsuccessful competitors retiring gracefully from the scene before the music bejpHS.

Pekin's educational authorities are becoming alarmed at the growing freedom with which the young of both sexes ; are $ beginning to.' t mingle in . a social way.', ■ In an. effort to stem the tide of modernism, Professor Liv Fu, principal of the, women's" oollege. of the • National University, has issued an order prohibiting 'students.of his college from visiting cabarets, on. pain of expulsion. Parents have-been advised of the new rule, and'urged-to- co-operato with the college authorities in securing its enforcement. But there has been no perceptible diminution of dance hall devotees. On the contrary, the business is proving so profitable that the municipal authorities are considering^ whether it cannot be made to yield Something, in the way of revenue, and a tax on all daucing parties held, in public places lias been proposed. •