Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1883-11-29
Food OF THE CELEsTIAIs.
Pork and Ries at the Head OF the Chizsss
BiII of F@rs-OtheT DeIIeaciss.


writes Pekin correspondent, China
men eat everything that Is edible
horse and a,s flesh, snakes, rats, mice.
dogs, grasshOppers, spiders, worrnA
cOcoDns, sea cucumbers. swallowS
nests, etc. Once, while living in q
villa near Pckin, ] saw very strange
scene. There appeared a cloud Of
grasshoppers. Suddenly the field was
covered with Cinnamon, who ran fran
ticlly hither and thither gathering
them in. They filed large sacks and
bags with the insects They carried
portable stoves, on which they roasted
their curious game Other Cinnamon
greediIy deyoured the grasshoppera,
paying a penny for ten.
At the head Of all meats Cinnamon
put, Of course pork. In their opinion,
10 the hog belongs the first plare in the
list Of domestic animals If you ask q
Chinaman why, he will answer YOU
proudly: "Becausc il was the hog from
whom the ChinMnau descendedr'
Don't you See the CeIestials have beaten
/ Darwin on the theory Of the descent If
man. 1t is only natural, then, that
among Cinnamon hogs should enjoy
full rights Of citizenship. Like dogs,
they wander wherever they please. A
Chinese street without number Of
hogs Is an impos,ibiIty. Are there
many hogs in Chinaf / should think
So. On a single holiday in memory Of
their ancestor not the original ances-
tors. the hogs, but merely human an
ccstOrs-thc Cclcstials eat fully GJU, 900
hogs. must admit that Chinese pork
is superior 10 any found elsewhere On
the globe Poor Cinnamon, who can
not afford to buy pork, eat meat Of
. dogs, asses, horses. rats, mice rabbits,
harcs, goats and sheep. But / never
saw them eating cats.
or birds the Chinese eat silver
phcasants, ducks, geese. chickens, iack-
DAVIS. crows and many others. Curious
~ enough, the so-called Cochin-China
fowls are very rarely seen here.
Among the choice delicacies Of the
Chimes must be mentioned the fms Of
sharks and the nests Of seas wallows.
/ Under the latter is understood not the
whole nest. but only the mucilaginous
4 inner coating ~ the nests il IS be-
. lieyed that the swallows who build
/ their nests on the sca-Tocks cover their
nests and glue them 10 the rocks with
the Juice of sea-canc. which on being
dried looks Ike muclaginous mem
brane. On the market these nests are
found in the shape OF hemisphere Of
the size Of a half orange peel The
nests are sold here at from Sl5 10 $25
per pound. They are used principally
for making broth. to which they give
a peculiar aroma and taste. much
valued by gastronomers
Rice, stands. Of course. at the head Of
vegetable foods Withou, rice-gruel
no meal is served here Fan" means
both "to cat a meal aud "to eat rice
Cruel" The brown rice. which is com
mon rice, but heated and musty. is
much liked There is also a red va
ricty Of rice,
Honey is much used here, but chiefly
as acosmctic. After being mixed with
flour it is used by the women in their
hair-dressing. With their hair sat
ursted. sticky and shining with honey,
they must be. indeed. sweet.
As everybody knows the Chinese are
passionately fond Of tea which they
cultivate for the rest Of the world.
They drink it at every meal. at home
and out, when idle and at work. in shops
and in ofices-in short everywhere
and at any time Of day or night. The
/ red. black and green sorts Of tea they
prepare only for export, while they
4 themselves use exclusively yellow tea
They take tea in small cups and with
out sugar.
Though in China there are excellent
sort of grapes. yet no wine is prepared
/ there. The Chinese make two kinds Of
whisky-of sagd and of rice-and
/ drink and smoke here. A tin gill Of
the shape Of an hour-glass is used for
whisky drinking, They had no glass
works here until recently, when an
American gentleman taught some
Celestials TO make glass During my
thirty years residence here / have
never seen single drunken Chinaman
on the street No coffee or chocolate
1 Is used here.