The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-05-08
IN THE CHINESE CAPITAL,
WHAT A LADY SAW IN THE CITY
OF PEKIN.
n place Rarely visited by Travels
crs-siews from the City walls -
he shops ami street Life.

Cunning, has lately written a narrative
of visit to Pekin, the Chinese capital.
Her first impressions of the city are re.
corded as follows:
There is Just one way by which to OBJ
tain quite an Elusive impression of Pekin
namely, by looking down on the city
from its majestic walls. Then all the
sQualor, dirt and dust, which are so
fearfully prominent at all other times
seem to disappear, and, as if by magic,
you find yourself overlooking rich
bowers of greenery tree tops innumer-
able, from which, here and there, rise
quaint ornamental roofs of temples or
mandarins' houses, with roofs of mar
monious gray tiles, or of bright, glazed
porcelain, cleaning in the sunlight.
Then you realize how many cool, pleas
ant homes wealthy citizens contrive to
reserve in the midst of the dingy, gray,
densely crowded streets, of which you
only catch glimpse here and there,
just enough to give a suggestion of life
to the whole scene.
Such a glimpse I first obtained one
morning at early dawn, ere the dust
clouds had begun to rise with the days
busy traffic. and the beauty of the scene
struck me more forcibly from the con-
trast betwixt the bird 's-eye view AID the
reality when seen on the level. In truth,
when standing on the south wall, which
divides the Tartar city from the Chi
nese, it is scarcely possible to realize that
one is looking down on the dwellings of
about 300, 900 human beings. OF these
900, 900 inhabit the Tartar city, which,
seen from the walls, is apparently beau
tiful park. richly wooded, and now
clothed in its densest mid summer foil
age. To the south of the city wall
stretches vast enclosure, called the
Hai-tsy, or Great Sea-like Plain, which
is the emperor's private hunting ground,
Enclosed by high brick wall forty miles
in circumference. On the other side,
looking into the Tartar city from the ele-
walton of about fifty feet, the brilliant,
yellow-tiled roofs of the imperial palace
are most conspicuous, and very beautiful
as they rise above the masses of dark
green foliage. A considerable number
of ornamental buildings, all yellow
rooted and cleaning like FURNISHED gold,
are scattered in every direction through
the imperial pleasure grounds, and with
the aid of good opera glasses one
OF course, as you travel round the
walls the view changes considerably, one
lot Of roofs gives pace to another-so
that YOU obtain a birds-eye view of the
situation of most of the points of interest
in the city. 1t would, however, take
really good walker to 90 the whole
round of the walls, as the Tartar city
forms square four miles in every direc-
ton, and the Chinese city is an oblong,
thirteen miles in circumference. Impos.
ing us the castellated towers and walls
appear when seen through the dust
clouds, a closer inspection proves that
they are not made of stone but of large
gray bricks about twenty inches in
length by niue in width); 80 that, after
all, these enormous bastions are Just the
universal dust in baked form.
The municipal system of watering the
streets is on an exceedingly limited scale.
being confined 10 few buckets of drain
water brought by the official scavengers
when not engaged in carrying the most
abhorrent sewerage from the houses to
the fields. Each householder is required
every evening at sunset to water that
section which is before his own door. At
this moment, therefore, all the Stops are
brought out from every house and are
sprinkled over the highway. II there is
any stagnant sewer, drain or pond with
in reach, no matter how foul its waters, a
few extra, buckets are drawn from thence,
and the happy population who seem de-
void of all sense of SMELL re joice in the
sudden cessation of the sulIocating dust.
The miracle is to see the people thrive
1a Il, al
must forever inhdlc and which makes us
positively sick. In the narrowest, most
crowded street, where the air is most
Presidential, where there are foul open
drains under their very windows, these
people look just as fat and healthy as in
the open country.
Beng on the inside of the great gate
way, and therefore in no danger of being
locked out At sunset, we were able to re-
main on the walls till the street watering
was over, and so gained impressions of
evening street life as we walked home in
the twilight. OF these the most curious
were the second hand clothes auction at
the open booths, where the stall men
were rapidly turning their wares and
shouting out their prices at the top of
their voices.
Then there is the incessant din of
street cries, while as a deep bass to these
comes the gruntng chorus of the coolies,
who, in the middle road, are urging on
their heavily laden carts, and the never
ccasing stream of the terrible springless
carts, which take the place Of cabs and
carriages for the greatest mandarins as
well as for the humber folk. Riders on
mules and donkeys go ingling along to
the music of their own bells Clearer
and most melodous is the tinkling Of the
square bell which hangs from the neck
of the last camel in the long files which
now and again move slowly up the street
with soft, silent tread and gliding move
ment. Some are laden with tea; Others
bring fuel for the city-a compound of
clay and coal-dust made up into balls.
which, being burnt in common portable
stoves made of clay, iron, or brass, give
out much heat and no smoke.
At one place we passed some monte
banks, whose bufioon called forth loud
laughter, at another denser crowd
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