Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1867-05-29
the Cleveland HerAldl

o
H0ng-KOag--- COOlieS--Ch1'
nese Ladies ---PaIanquinS
SC, sc.
we are permitted by favor of an OLE
friend of the writer TO make copioul
extracts from a private letter iron
Hong Kong, China, written by a for
mer resident of Mansfield, and former
" a prominent editor Of this State. The
letter is rich in information, description
and humor, and evidences great obser
walton and facility of expression.
HoNo KoNG, Jan. Is, 1867.
Ny DEAR FRIENDs:-Really, my life
in China has been thus far very sgreea.
BILE much moe so than l could have
anticipated in view of coming among
people so strangely peculiar and sc
utterly different from our Town. But
those differences and pe~culiarities have
greatly interested me. The Chinese
are by no mea a disagreesble people
to mingle with in business or in ordina'
~ social intercourse. No people on
earth are more fastidiously polite; nor
does one get the impression when
among them, Of mingling with an in.
ferior or degraded race. They are
shrewd and quick of perception, and
generally intelligent; as reading and
writing is more universal with them
than even with US in America. But
the Chinese common school education
stops at reading and writing.
l have been at their houses and have
taken "tifin" with them, where they
tried to use knife and fork as compli-
ment to me, and where | tried to use
''chop sticks as compliment to them,
both parties meeting with positive and
ludicrous failures. We accordingly
compromised by each using hiseown
mode of feeding himself. The awkward
ness of each in the attempt to use the
implements of table warfare of the 9TH
er, was such as to csuse infinite amuse-
ment TO all around. OF course no
ONE were present; no LADY hostess
TO preside at the table and pour the
tiny cups of tea for her husbands
guest. Nay, the Chinese husband and
wife never IA together at the same
table but once-on the day of their
marriage. Nevertheless L could catch
glimpses of the Celestial beauties of the
household, as they peeped through the
~lattices over the doors of their houses
to see the 'soutside barbarian" eat
Manifestly, curiosity" is not unknown
10 womankind in Asia, no more than in
America. what did 1 eat?" Don't
ask me; how can / tell? l can only
say that l ate heartily. The food tasted
well, and the eggs were unexeeptiona-
bly, fresh. In one town l visited Chin
Wan, il seemed that the whole popula
ton came out 10 see me- | could hear
the old women on all sides shouting,
and see them reckoning to the young
sters at distance, calling them to come
and zee the SFah-kee man." Fah-kee
is the common Chinese name for Amer
leans. "Fah" mean a flower, and
"Kee" means a flag; hence they desig-
nate Americans as "the people of the
howery flag" in sllusion to our star
spangled banner. l have been in their
schools, in their temples or "Joss
houses" mingled among them in
crowds of thousands, and have never
experienced anything but entire re-.
spect. Here in Hong-Kong the Chi
nese and Europeans mingle unnoticed
and unnoticing. But mp in China,
away from the seaport, a foreigner is
still q great curiosity among the people
But 1 went among them entirely alone,
that / was accompanied by two
Chinese gentlemen who went with me
from Hong Kong. l have agreed to
company them some time soon on
mother excursion into the interior, up
o Fat-psan, a city of some 100000 in
habitants, and distinguished for its
manufactures, especially for its elegant
silks and grapes.
This island of Hong Kong has been
in possession of England now about
years. Twenty years ago
there were only 8 few fsheFmen's huts,
built of bamboo, on al 1.-THE island. Now
there is here a welLbuilt city, of about
lao, 900 inhabitants; some of the great
est mercantile firms on the globe have
their head houses here; banks, whose
stock is summed up by millions;
q splendid harbor; where are usually
from 200 to 300 ships. bearing the flags
of all nations, from the 'sblack eagle"
of Prussia to the ''Hhite elephant of
Siam. Here are warehouses whose
would dwarf anything l
ever saw in America and this island,
from its central position between India
and Japan, and controlling almost the
entire coast of China, and from being
the ~converging point of all the steam
ship lines of England, Franco and
America for moving the immense COM
merce of Asia, has come 70 command
q greater influence on the commerce
and public policy of the vast Orient
than any other place in the east.
The place itself has many attractions
in its romantic glens and mountains
Victoria Peak, 1000 feet high, looks
out over the broad Pacific ocean on one
side, and off into the interior of China
on the other. At its foot is the city
and narbor crowded with shipping and
Chinese junks. The walks and drives
are beautiful, the roads all5as smooth
and as clean as those of a lawn, while
the pine, the palm, and the bamboo,
with the gSave old banyans oVershadow
the whole. Gardens of wonderful
beauty are e surrounding mansions
whose grandeur presents impressive
specimens of oriental msgnifcence and
inmates are served by a retirne
of ten, twenty, or even thirty servants
in the quaint costume of the Chinese,
constitutes a livery at once
comely and characteristic. The city is
gas lighted, well supplied with water
As pure and soft as dew, and affords
every comfort and luxury of life; always
provided money is on hand. 1t is per-
haps tho most expensive place to live
on the face of the h&bitable globe.
Rents are enormous, but ervants are
cheap. l have five in my establishment,
and the wages of all five amount to but
about $50 q year, andthey board them
selves. Perhaps you wonder how any
five human beings can live on 500 per
~ - L. -