A LETTER FROM CHINA.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 12868, 29 May 1905, Page 6

A LETTER FROM CHINA.

MR. CMONG'S TEAVfELR.

Tho following are extracts from letters written by Mr Wilfred Chorng to his mother and sisters :—: —

From Hongkong he writes :—- After ( leaving Sydney we had three clays of | \-ery rough weather, and experienced irreat heat. We stopped at Brisbane, where we went ashore. Passi nothrough the Coral Islands we saw sotnc beautiful »ig-hts, and j several pearling fisliera at work. .At I Port Darwin we lost most of our . nicest friends; then we steamed for ! Timor, where soldiers embarked. The | scenery at Timor is lovely. Th* , palms, cocoa-nuts, and banana trees o-row in the streets, ami the 'houses are all painted white and blue. Then on we went to Manila, whore the harbour is full of shipping of all sorts and sizes, and thick with catamarans, :i narrow boat with long pc/les each side to balance it. The Filipinos swarmed on board to sell fruit, fii>ars, etc., which can bo obtained very cheaply. T bought a box of 50 good (igars for 2s. At the time of writing lighting is taking plaice eight mil» l « from Manila. We arrived at 'Hongkong in the evening I ', after two hoursT delay owing" to a fog, which we had to pass through. Tn'the morning wo worn up early to look around the town. The buildings are mostly of stone and cejment, and are very imposing. The streets are crowded with people. Most of them cook and eat their food in the streets. We are besieged by "rickshaw men, who are crafty about Hie fares when dealing wit<h s trailers. Sedan chairs are very pleasant to ride in. To got to some streets on the hillside some hundreds of steps must be mounted. I went alone up one of these hill-sides to get to thu "Peak" railway, mMcli ascends the mountain, and nearly lost -njr way. T met some Indian soldiers, avlio roukl not tell To", on my accosting them, ij 1 was on the right road, so went on until 1 met an TCnglish officer. a\lh> asked for a pass, which T -did not have. So I went another *vay, and met an Tndian soldier, who followed me. T found a cable tram station, and sat down to wait for the tram ; all the while the Tndian was standing behind me, until the car fame along. On T jumped, and several times tl.e oor was almost, perpendicular. From the summit I had a grand view. HVre, also, are the soldiers' barracks and a splendid large hotel eall>°d the "Peak Hotel." The top of this mountain is nearly always shrouded in douds. The native women work on buildings, carrying across their shoulders heavy burdens of stone a»d sand in baskets. The market place is a line building. On the ground floor, which covers an acre of grVnmd, an? tho fish, greengrocers' aud fruit departments, and on the top floor are the poultry, butchers', and dry goods stalls. Tho noise in the fish market is deafening; hundreds of people are tfuvi'no- and selling there. 1 saw a Chinese policeman taking a man ofl to oaol by his pig-tail. Handcuffs are not needed very much there. We visited a Chinese theatre, which was a very large place, Smoking 1 , eating and drinking are allowed in tho theatres, as the plays continue day and night. The costmmos worn -were niaio^ nificent, but wo did not appreciate their music. iMon bring round, besides fruit and cigars, cups and oven copper -teapots for tho convenience of play|g<oers. Wo have- soon only four horses horo; they wore drawing the carriages of tho rich Chinese. Their keep is too expensive, as gra/ino- is s o scarce. Coolies take the place oi nor ses. "Right or nine coolies draw alonij a ti nil >or- waggon. water-carts, dustcarts, etc. Wo are at present tho guests of one of Hongkong's wealthiest Chinese merchants, who was a pa^engor with n^ from Australia, where ho owns lai^'e tracts of land.

We wish to be renUinliberod to all our friends in Taranaki.