Travel Notes.

Samoanische Zeitung, Volume 23, Issue 31, 3 August 1923, Page 8

Travel Notes.

. (Byttjriioors.) BHANOHAI. On entering the fine harbour, of Shanghai the stranger is surprised at the number and great proportions of the structures he sees, and which house industrial and other enterprises. .Xheis are numerous iron and sleet oil, cotton, and silk mills covering acres and acres, and supplying work for thousands. It is said that the population of this city audita immediate vicinity is nearly 4,000.000; and k is the largest port in China, often called the Paris of the East. Amongst other great buildings are two- egg-factories where it is said that millions of eggs are processed daily. I was told that they were dessicated and barrelled for shipment. A number of large college or seminar? buildings are also conspicuous, and when one takes a view of the place in a rickshaw he is astonished when he is shewn very.. many, extensive and highly Valuable modern buildings which are said to be occupied by single missionary families, and all of these located on highly valuable property. Surely none of these missionary families ever lived in such magnificence in. their home countries nor were they waited on by the troops of servants which are necessarily employed to keep such extensive quarters in order It is possible that they do not themselves approve of such style, and that they only keep it up because the merchant population have set such a high pace of living that the missionary wo-ild perhaps be looked down upon, il he did not present an important appearance. When one reflects on the circumstances of the humble and, self sacrificing man upon whose teachings are based the whole system these missionaries, ares trying to introduce, it does not seam as if his present day disciples inShanghai are following anywhere near his footsteps. The subject of missionaries and their labours in China! is commly discussed in all circles, and so far as I could learn it is not thought that they are doing the Chinese or themselves any very useful service; and that their time and money could be better bestowed on their own country trying ta enlighten the brutal masses, who from time to time commit the most un-heard-ot excesses and frequently escape punishment because juries will. - not convict them even on plainest evidence. If th.e Chinese established great Institutions in California, and Sent hosts of Confucian priests to' tell us we were all wrong In our Christian conceptions and practices, and if their priests lived in considerable affluence' and sought converts amongst the dregs of ourtpQpulace and endeavoured to ntake them despise-all of bur .traditions, and many of bur customs, Llpgienii idea that we would drive thepl'bot ' with )% degree of violence, abdfjjibt ■ theirmrmles .it they aent any tb coo , test-wlih:ns. ; ' , '''-'"r .•-•"-.*-«■ ?.•'■'"-7v-"":. If these insisted on- occupying 'high *e*ta in bur . courts and in extending a sort', of'"' protection over any of their: converts . whOjV'-were .1 being ■. ,trjlejS|ior . local . - offences. X think. we ,■ resent such Interferences vigorously. I do these mlaalooarlea Individually/abused, but everyone whom I beard discuss the subject condemned whole , scheme of endee^rf to' Chris-. tlanise the Chinese, who at a nation wished to t* allowed tjr inarch forward ugmoleated. These people. were generally Regarded as the traders ■IW ftmSlf. brought successJWtiOM fl^heir

whole. Tbey were not anxious that foreigners should visit their country and would be all the tetter < pleased If they were left to themselves. Opium had been introduced by foreigners, and maintained by them for years, and now they were trying almost successfully to clear it out, and they might finally succeed if not interfered with. In different parts qf this city I saw many new constructions going up and some of them when completed I am sure would cost £300,000. The Shaogbai Club Is quite a magnificent aftair and is known far and wide. Many great merchants, brokers, bankers and other business men make this city their home, and

they have provided themselves with extensive mansions located on what is known as The French Concession, „ where most of the finest residences,are erected. In this locality the streets mostly bear French or British names and they are perfectly built and kept up Fine shade trees are in all of the gardens and overhang the sidewalks. Such conditions encourage the people to use motors, and plenty of them are in competition with the humble rickshaw. However there is another vehicle which I first saw in Shanghai as a passenger's vehicle; I refer to the great wheelbarrow, with one high wheel In the centre. The load is so placed on both sides of this barrow, that the operator has really no lilt that amounts to anything, he has merely to keep the load balanced, and to push it along, which requires little. force,, as the ". wheel is so large. I hope I will be believed when I say. that I saw a party of school girls, of twenty per. sons,-going out for an afternoon's cheap ridje on two of such barrows'. There were five girls sitting on each side with their legs hanging down,

and one Chinaman to each barrow who did the lifting and pushing, and they went along at a fair pace as a Chinaman trots; these were eating nuts and cakes and? seemed to be enjoying life as their "steeds" gaily manoeuvred them over the beautifully asphalted pavements. The probable cost of this excursion was a dollar (2s 6d) for the afternoon,-for each bariow. In the suburbs of Shanghai I came upon a street very much be- . flagged and with many barbaric instruments playing in front of their banners. This was a kind of fairground resort, and filled with cheap theatres. Probably there, were twenty or more consideiable places and twice as many small- affairs. The admission was usually about 5 pence, and most of the places - were well filled, and the companies owing them depended chiefly on the audience buying tea: add cakes,

or cigarettes, after they had them ioaide. The stages were large and the performers were mostly buffoons with their faces painted and them - .selves wearing gaudy costumes, and flourishing swords and cudgels, and goose-stepping about the stage. Some crude acrobatics were attempted, but no tumbling to compare at .all with exhibitions we commonly see in our own cheap circuses. Fortune tellers and other fakirs abounded, were prospering. Nanking road 19 the chief retail street In Shanghai it is of fair width and aidewalked, and kept clean. Probably it is several miles long and lined with shops of all kinds, everyone displaying their goods by openIng the Whole width of the .shop to th»street» and thus making one big ' door, end in every shop there are so many salesmen that a stranger cannot understand how it can pay to employ so much help. At night this street is brilliantly lighted by a tremendous display of electrical lights and Chinese signs. "Tbe Wing On" and several other great Department stores make elaborate shewing*. These stores are five stories high as a rule, and are veiy. nicely equipped with elevators and every modern contrivance for the earring 00 oi their business, »ud

for the convenience of their customers. Goods are fairly cheap in these and in other leaser establishments bntthe cost ot getting them ont of China, where there is a 5 per cent export duty, plus other charges of packing, &c, and freight, makes them dear in the end -One evening I was invited to go oat to a new Chinese entertainment company's establishment called "The New World;" This -was on the Nanking Road, and was covered as usual, with brilliant-electrical displays. The building was. a large one and we bought tickets on the lower floor, and as we went up the elevator we inquired from the operator which ot the floors offered the best show. I think we went up three flights, and got off into a corridor from whence we entered a theatre which; Was quite full! An ordinary drama was being presented, and claimed the rapt attention ot the audience; but nothing seemed to interest us much, so we went down another story and found an accomplished "magician" with a small crowd wo'idering "How it was done." Oo the tower floor we came upon a "story teller" who occupied a platform with a lady and with a banjo man, When the story teller made any particular point, the banjo man gave out two or three' affirmative notes and occasionally the lady interjected some pertinent remarks and brought out a hearty laugh. There was no doubt but that this sort of entertainment gave satisfaction, for quite a crowd sat entranced, and two or three fellows made their way through them With dampened towels tor wipiog the sweaty hands and faces. Of course they expected 5 cents or something. A dampened towel under such circumstances is indeed refreshing If one knows that it is clean, but in this case one very well knows the very opposite is the case, and he may get .some damnable disease from such an application. We, next went below the street level and passed through a wide, welllighted tunnel and came into a new environment on the opposite side of the street. Here was quite an attractive garden with seats and tables at which tea was served or any other drinks, and another different kind of story teller and mimic was entertaining many people. At the lower end ot the garden was a zoo containing the usual wild beasts including lions and tigers, and yet auother theatre was before us and which we could enter—all of this for the original entrance fee—about is 6d. was not for us to ask whether the affair was payable or not; there it -was, and we could form bur own conclusions. .

This was the "New World" we had been overlooking. Next day, and at a considerable distance, I saw the " Wot 1 d•».» which was also an extensive aflair, and amongst its many attractions it had : What is known in U.S. as a scenic railroad where passengers-are given rides up and down hill on last moving cars drawn by wire rows at . >there are csrtalo,iy v e r y enterprising showmen in China, and they have a dense population to diaw from. Qtt%« large quantum of cotton : goods are manufactured in the vici - nity Of Shanghai, and also some silk. I visited the Original Chinese dty "where the streets were very narrow and more less ericumUrcd, ' but we managed to get through tn oar mo «» c«. iffhis Chinese city does not compare with Canton, where although the stwets are tar narrower the native buildings are infinitely better and tha Mores, more attractive. The W&i PW! & Shanghai consists «f buildings seldom S^^* lo^ 8 high, while tbe ; Chine* business meets of Cautdn fcnljrSoft** feet wide are lined /****?»*** Junctures Standing three as plumbS and •* titte as they wete when first CPjayfcltd many uuuditds of yean

ago; and thesebricks look new and are, unmarked, and the granite pavements are in first-class order and clean as I last saw them In 1920. . Without doubt a good many stores altogether Chinese, are closed on Sundays, and big departments shops only open afternoon. How this comes, about I cannot say ; bnt there it is, and I have seen it. In the Chinese' section . Sunday has no perceptible influence so far as I noted. But it is clearly in evidence In the new and improved section ot the city; along the routes of the tram lines, &c. (To be continued.)