LIFE IN TWO CITIES

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 110, 11 May 1935, Page 10

LIFE IN TWO CITIES

TOKIO AND SHANGHAI

A VISITOR'S IMPRESSIONS

SIGHTS ANtJ SCENES

(Written for "The Post.")

Tokio is a very different city from , what I had imagined it to be, as is | always the way when one has but a I vague idea o^a place. Instead of ' seeing crowds of smiling Japanese in f gay, brightly-coloured kimonos, it is a surprise to find so many people in sober working-day European clothes, looking so businesslike in the trams, ! trains, and subways. ; The huge, square, solid-looking buildings are anything but Japanese, as they are built on the most up-to-date Western lines. When one recovers from one's first surprise (and perhaps disappointment) at the absence of colour ~ in Tokio, one's next emotion is one of ] amazement and wonder at this gigan- j tic modern city, the second largest in £ the world, coveting over 200 square miles. ' . ;-■'■• AN UP-TO-DATE CITY. j Tokio has a population of nearly six million people. In many ways, it is most up-to-date, but it is extremely l difficult for the foreigner to find his < way about, and one can waste much i valuable time in trying to, unless he ( has a guide. The streets are of c tremendous width, and one can get \ tired out from crossing and recross- 1 ing them a few times. The railway < station is huge, and it is fascinating to c watch the trains coming in from all £ directions, each train marked with a c big white square or an oblong, a s circle or a triangle, indicating the f various routes. r The trams have Japanese girl con- s ductors, and to judge from thetr. faces t and funny little childish highly-pitched i voices, they must be very young, but s none the less efficient and courteous, t Courtesy and efficiency are two words i that seem to be continually coming i into one's mind in Tokio, as in other i cities in Japan. The Japanese girls have wonderful complexions and i are very charming when dressed. in r their native costume. They are very f disappointing in foreign dress, which \ so many of them favour. l CHINESE AND JAPANESE. * After the appalling beggary in the t streets of Chinese cities, it is a relief f to find so little- in Tokio. The people look happy and smiling, well fed and c contented. Although Japan was once i the home of the ricksha, there are t comparatively few left now, but this j is a most popular form of conveyance 1 in China!. Taxi rides are absurdly i cheap, and besides electric trams and { motor buses, one can take an electric r train through the city, and five miles of t subway have been completed, running through the most important 1 parts. "• ' | £ Unlike many cities in China, there are s very few foreign residents in Tokio. t Only . about 7000 Europeans reside c in the whole of Japan. Another big i difference between the Japanese and s the Chinese which the foreigner finds \ refreshing is, that while tipping or i "Curhsha" is a recognised thing in I China, one hesitates to tip a Japanese. And one does not "beat him down"' or 1 bargain with the Japanese tradesman; t whilst in China, both'the shopkeeper i and the buyer enjoy it equally, and one is looked upon as a fool if he does hot. i ."' I was fortunate enough to see the inside of a Japanese house in Tokio, which had been-.the home' of an eminent Japanese, nobleman. This house, though typically Japanese in • design and taste, has been sufficiently Westernised and modernised to be made comfortable, and very beautiful it is, I set in its landscape garden, which ta spring is pink with plum blossom. CONEY ISLAND OF TOKIO. < A visit to Asakusa, called the Coney i Island of Tokio, is a never-to-be-for- t gotten, experience, and here one sees all the colour and gaiety one could £ desire. A little piece of old Japan 1 in the heart of the modern capital, c Thousands of men, women, and chile dren, dressed in their kimonos, jost- •■ ling each other and laughing and buying and selling. . I All the streets'in Asakusa are really J bazaars, and one sees the most at- .-I tractive, articles for sale. Some '! these bazaars sell nothing but dolls, f and one can buy tjie tiniest, cheapest ; Japanese dolls, as well as the most expensive, creatures; wonderfully, dressed. . Toy shops, mostly of thecoloured celluloid variety, cheap but very gay/ are here in great numbers.1 Food cooked in the .open, merry-go • rounds, and soothsayers are here also , and one cannot visit Asakusa withoq t going into the Asakusa Shrine, erectqi d to the Goddess of. Mercy (Kwannon'). This is a huge temple, and hundred is of pilgrims go there daily to thrf\w in coins and have wishes. Every nf jw and then one hears a bell ring. 1} his is from some Especially earnest petitioner trying exceptionally hard tq attract, the ear of his god., ; v ART GALLERY AND SHRINf;. The Meiji Art Gallery is an« >ther sight well worth seeing. This! is a beautiful edifice, designed by ai 'outh of eighteen. The building stan? Is on a height and is built round a quadrangle. The walls of the gallery are coyered with huge paintings depicting the life of the old Emperor Gfrid the chief incidents of■ his reign) fi* j m bis birth to his death. • . - The Earthquake Memorial SJ'irine is another beautiful building. Thii ; shrine was erected. to the memory jof the 30,000 people who perished in a' ie earthquake. All their ashes are (i obtained in a/huge urn, and there aie tapers burning all the time. The bo people fled'to a compound for reffiidge, but the buildings all around thenr'a caught fire and they were all burned! to death. The Shrine is erected on 1J tie very compound where they died. < The Imperial Palace is situ ated right in the heart of the city, 3 nd is entirely surrounded by moats.. 'It is not, of course, open to the pub? ic. There are a number of go od foreign hotels for tourists, the chief ,one being the Imperial Hotel, which: .'is a fine hotel and a popular meetji ng place. ■This vast, beautifully if dd-out city has been practically rebuilt since the earthquake, and as that oq curred only twelve years ago, the toid cist is filled with wonder and respect $ or the efficiency of. the Japanese. UNIQUE SHANGJ HAI. Shanghai is unique an) tong cities. I doubt if there is anything : quite like it in the world. Its fascing .tion lies not in its streets or its builf lings, or its town planning. Its stre<j ts are narrow and dirty, its buildingf.s ugly, and there seems to be no sig n at all of its ever having been plani ied. No, its charm lies in its Boheir# .anism, its cosmopolitan population, ■ its night life, and its shops. ; : At night, all the. ugliq .ess of the city vanishes. Most of the i large buildings are outlined in colour t :d Neon lights, and as many of them ; j are domed, the whole effect is very b< lautifui Shanghai then looks like a s ity of jewelled temples. The. Chine's* i characters in particular, look most ? ittractive' lit up with colours. A dri|/e in a ricksha round the city at nigj it is a thrilling experience. Night ltf-fe begins at 11 o'clock. The picture: theatres which

are closed from 7 till 9 for tl ie dinner hours open from 9 till 11. 4 jter lhat, the cabarets and night clubs I seep open until the early morning hotij-s. The cabarets have good • orchestras, and professional dancing, partners.' These girls are mostly Russians and they are both beautiful to ■' look at and to dance with. If you arc? a man, you pay for every dance you-: have, and your partner gets a small percentage on each dance. These /jirls have to dance with anyone who.' asks them. Sometimes the management puts on a special programme of Hap and ballet and spectacular dancp.s interspersed with the ballroom numbers, all very pretty. It is most int(j resting to visit these cabarets, but lilt c most things, they have their pathetif; or even sordid side, v ■ ■ WONDERFUL. SHOPS. The shops are wq nderful. Yates Road, which has beeni ;alled the "Street of a Thousand iNighU ,es" is especially famous. All the slg ops in this road are Chinese, arid the., lingerie, handworked napery, etc«, displayed is exquisite. One sees r% larvellous banquet cloths, supper, and tablecloths, all worked by Chinese. hands at pathetically low prices, ufaich tells a fragic story if one cares if y listen. In Kates Road are also to bj a found the most beautiful jewellery; shops in which are sold jade and tporal, rose quartz, amethyst, lapis lag :uli, cornelian, crystal, etc. One couli I spend many hours just looking in sbfop windows. MANY NATIONALITIES. Shanghai is a $;ood place to learn languages, for tbjare are hundreds of Germans, French., Russians, English, and Italians, besides the thousands of Chinese. Most of the English people and Americans t jid Germans live in the Internationa il Settlement. The French Settlemei it, which is sometimes called "Little Me .scow," consists mainly of Russians. A venue Joffre, the main shopping street; in "Little Moscow" is a wonderful street, with many exclusive and expensive shops. But I found the side i streets -even more fascinating, for thq re were so many Russian signs and ? lettering on these shops that I almost i :elt as if I were in the real Moscow, i The Russian food shops were «tost interesting, as one found lots of i strange and exotic looking Russian foj 3d displayed, to say nothing of vans it ill of vodka being taken into the variams cafes. ■ Just before;' Christmas, all the footpaths in the o ity are lined with Christmas trees fw an Manchuria, all sizes from 3 dollars (4s 6d) each. There were so mao t y that the streets looked like avenues! of pine trees. But on Christmas EJ ye, hardly one was to be seen. The; Russians especially love their Christi mas trees, and no Russian family is td o poor to buy one;' Most of ', the Russians in Shanghai are White /aussians, and their position is a very aid one. Exiled refugees in the first p lace, they now possess no privileges., or what they call extraterritorial- rights, no nationality, and no protection* A Russian girl is only too glad to rq arry an Englishman, a German, or a . Frenchman in order to obtain ana tionality. • ■"■",'-■ The CJ> linese girls wear a sort of half We» ternised Mandarin dress, with a .high q allar, long sleeves, and'a split skirt frqi m the knee downwards. Even the littj a children wear this style of dress, si ad-very pretty' and suitable it is. T| je Chinese children are. adorable, ci en' the poorest of them looking well f 9 d, and with their straight black fringed 1 hanv beautiful skins, and brown eyes, they are most appealing. Yes," Shanghai is certainly a fascinating d ty. One cannot take, a walk for ten rq unites without seeing something inters sting, amusing, or tragic. ■{■ '.-■'■■':'■ ..,.-- j.cjvi.