The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-09-28
THE SURFACE OF SHANGHAI.

Shanghai is a gay deceiver. Its European
bund, or business street, upon the Waters
edge, makes it seem the most pretentious small
city in all the world. 1t gives to tens OF
thousands their first impressions of China-an
false ones, for Shanghai is not part OF China,
but is republic by itself. AS Mrs. Tieh saw
to the unstrapping of her trunks in the great
hallway of the semi-European, semi-tropleai
hotel her spirits and her hopes came flying
back. She looked over her trunks upon the
palms and glorious fower-beds of the hotel
court. She looked into her trunks with hall
her mind wandering back to the first view
she had of Shanghai its noble harbor,
dotted with homelike steamers and pretty
men-of-war, before noble avenue OF
stately merehant-palaces. And then she
saw her beautiful new gowns and her
she remembered her mothers handiwork IN
packing the boxes. the delighted exclamatlons
of her girl friends as they handled ana IN
spected the treasures. Remem brances OF her
first undimmed hopes swept into her mind,
and with them came a golden prospect or
parties and balls and choice society IN TINS
new, undreamed of China, this shanghai
China, which looked to her as civilized as
London, and more beautiful even than Wash
ington. After luncheon she went Tor drive
with her husband; upon the Buobhng wen
full Chinal all sunshine and flowers ana
beauty. Lord what whirl her mind was III!
Their carriage was lordly Victoria. Upon
the box sat two servants in pretty wnlte
livery of cotton, broadly bordered with RED
The clothes they wore were OF Chinese cut, ana
their braided pigtails hung down behind al
most upon the front seat of the carriage. VIC
torias, landaus and cabs swept by upon the
spick-and-span boulevard beside the water in
stately procession. She saw the public mower
garden, the beautiful bayside park, alive
with Chinese nurses and barelegged Eng
lish children; saw the pretty bandstand,
the red-turbaned Sikh policemen. fierce
and swart and seemingly eight feet nlgn. sne
saw the colossal business-houses and GO
dOwns-nOt so tall as they would be IN chi
cago, but very broad upon the ground. She
saw the huge, inviting clubhouse, the English
church, the more English City Hail. the end
less lines and swarms of Chinese coolies trot-
ting along, bearing burdens on bamboo poles,
chanting as they walked and worked. AND
then the carriage turned into q side street tul
of very attractive modern European shops.
Why Shanghai was little Paris transplanted
to China, she thought. And she. could
European, or how much or how little
" EA' the Ne little street Of jewelers. shops,
great furnishing shops, photograph galleries,
and all the rest broadened into the wide
"maloo," and became altogether Chinese
fine boulevard bordered with low, white and
black and red shops, hung with lanterns,
capped with roofs Of black tiling, swarming
with Cinnamon. And they were not the spare,
bullet-headed, aged-face Cantonese that she
had seen in America, but handsome, large,
So she came TO the racecourse, and in the middle
of colony of inviting villas in bowery gardens
saw the Country Club, with its tennis swards
and pretty ladies slipping ices under spreading
trees.
On and on rolled the carriage over the
smooth, hard road, under the trees beside the
villas set in parklike grounds. Presently she
found herself oyertaking carriageloads OF
beautiful Chinese women, prettier lar than the
women of Japan, as she saw them riding, for
many are very beautiful until they are seen to
try to walk, Mr.. Tieh seemed proud to talk OF
them. He did not say that they were sing
song girls, teahouse women, concubines-all
slaves, and worse. She never could have
guessed it, for in China all women appear mod
est end shy and have babylike, calm faces.
They wore splendid silks made into loose coats,
little aprons, aud broad trousers beautifully
worked at the bottoms. Their dimpled faces
were sometimes q trihe too much powdered,
but their hair-that she really enVied them.
1t was jet black, and sleek and shining. In her
coils, behind, each lady carried many pretty
stick pins of gold or silver or enamel; on the
sides of each ones head above each ear, were
glorious ornaments OF tiny pearls and jade
stones, in row upon row, making a fan-shaped
mass that covered the whole side of the head.
Many of these ornaments were made OF tiny
natural buds and flowers to initiate white
pearls and green jade. Most of the women
were bareheaded. A few wore band of black
silk over their brows, with a jade-stone button
or two in front. Three miles out there was a
group OF tea-gardens, and into the gates OF
these the pretty China women drove.-From
"Alone in China" by Julian Ralph, in Har-
per's Magazine for October.