Travel Notes.

Samoanische Zeitung, Volume 23, Issue 32, 10 August 1923, Page 3

Travel Notes.

(ByH J Moors.) SHANGHAI. [Continued.] The foreign mercantile community in and about Shanghai seems to be vety prosperous indued, for they live as a rule at great expense Saturday afternoon's are made veiy attractive by social gatherings at tennis courts, and bowling fields in the suburbs, where all kinds ot conveniences have been provided and are largely attended but I saw no Chinese pople paiticipatlng in any of tbese affairs. On the brilliantly lighted "Nan king Road"'l saw many young Chinese men well dressed in Euro • pean clothes, out walking with their wives or with their young female friends, Who were always iu very brilliant native dresses, aud in the best houses of entertainment these gentlemen seemed to be very attentive to their lady friends, who were often handsome women. Occas sionally some young fellow would dress in Chinese gaimeuts, which always seemed more attractive to me. But the njajority-of Jhe men assumed European garments of the very latent cut. ( I afterwards found the same situationib Japan. Most of the ladies used heavy- brocaded silk-coats and trousers, and tre queutty these trousers were bright yellows, or. pinks, while tbe upper g?Wtfi « °* * -take* »h*4fl heae temaka were uMwt of them

real diamonds oi good size. At the slk counters in the department *iores I saw very young girls making heavy purchases of very silks. I saw very few Half-castes in any part of China, but was told that some were wealthy, and that they preferred to live alter the Chinese style. Highclass Chinese men are frequently large and handsome, especially when dressed in the native costume; their manners are perfect and they are witty and companionable. Most ot my friends had several wives and all were anxious that lady number one should bear a sou. Many of the wives that I saw. appeared Im mature girls, and it is probable that they were without much education A great proportion ot the poorer females are employed iu laborious occupations, such as shovelling, carrying bricks and mortar, and some of these delicately formed females carry loads up to i4olbs for considerable distances, their feet only protected by wooden scandals, and through slushy roads with the temperature not far above freezing point. Many ol them handle their Sampans with skill, aud they think nothing of very considerable tasks. I went off to a steamtr in Hong Kong harbour in a sampan managed by one old man and two women, and we had some heavy trunks to get down a very tall companion way. The old man and oue little woman with a child tied on her back climbed to the top and managed to pass these trunks down, and into sampan, r I thoroughly sympathized with the poor woman, but she was delighted that their sampan had secured the job. Often these boats must pass hours if not whole days without employment, for there are so many ot tbem seeking work and cumbering all landings, just as there are numerous rickshaw men infesting all hotel entrances and railway stations. The rates of legal fare per sampans, and per rickshaw, are conspicuously posted in view of the passengers, but even when passengers pay considerable excess, these oriental cabbies ask for more, and I found that the best way to stop this sort of clamor was to step back into the vehicle and ask the runner to take me to the police station. They never had the nerve to go ahead in that direction to settle any dispute. NANKING.

After I ielt that I had seen everything in and around Shanghai that would interest me, I packed up some of my purchased stuff delivered it Cook's Agency with -instructions to forward it to Honolulu to await my own arrival there, and I paid fo/ railway transportation to Peking via Nanking, Pukow and Tientsin. The conntry iu the vicinity ot Shanghai is rather flat and is all under some sort of cultivation, but very little rice is growu, and as I proceeded further north I passed entirely out ot the rice-giowing sec tion ot Chiua into a section which raises grains, and chiefly lives on them, and beans of several varieties. Peanuts were also to be seen growing, together with many fields of mulberry raised for feeding silk worms. * At every meal we were provided with potatoes which were very small, but excellent. I did not see these growing, and understood they came from distant places above the plain. We left in the moruing and travelled for many hours on a fairly well kept train aud over a flat conntry with barren hills in sight once in a while. At every station fruit-sellerjTbrTered very poor pears at twice or three times the ordinary prices, and when tendered fair raus they utterly refused them, there bains some kind of an agreement amoug&t the vendors that they woujd have to get the prices asked or-Heap the trait. I did " ot s " much & U bodgbt. as the passengers ly btggets woold shew their de &nJtfe»,bnt throughout China I

expected to see. At 4 pm. we reached the banks of the Yangste Kiang at Nanking, and were told that owing to the typhoon that was then blowing we would not be able to cross the river until the next day, and would have to remain in Nanking. I engaged a motorcar with another passenger and we soon reached the "Bridge House," which is the best hotel, and we were torttinate in getting a good room with a bath and were soon cleaned up and ready lor dinner. As it was cold, rainy, windy and muddy outside we soon turned into comfortable beds, hoping the typhoon would blow itself out during the night, and that the Yangtse Kiang would calm down and allow us to cross. (To be continued.)