The daily sentinel., 1900-06-11
CANTON A GAY CITY.
ITS NARROW STREETS GLOW
WITH COLOR AND LIFE.
And Weird ProoessIons Add to the
PicturesQusnsss Way of
Displaying Warss-Life on the River
In Shopping Quartsrs. .


In Shopping Quartsrs. .
The city of Canton is one of the
most fascinating in the celestial en-
pire. Its streets are most picturesque.
Some of them bear high-sounding
names, such as the Street Of Reposing
Dragons, the Street of Saluting Dra-
Grandsons, the Street OF One
Hundred Thousand Grandsons. and
the Street OF Golden Profits.
the Street of Golden Flowers.
the Street of Ten Thousand Happi-
nesses. Others are more simply dub
bed: Old Clothes street, Physic street,
New Green Pea street. Only eight or
nine feet in width, paved but lacking
sidewalks, and impossible for wagons
or carriages, these tiny alleys glow
with color, TEEN with busy life, and
to the eyes Of foreign devil offer in
Vulnerable novelties.
The streets in the shopping districts
are the most interesting and are lined
by two-story buildings, supporting On
their roofs a lattice work of bamboo
poles, on which rest mats capable OF
being moved back and forth as the
weather suggests. At night sliding
shutters furnish protection. but while
daylight lasts the entire front Of these
doorless, windowless shops are thrown
open. This arrangement adds gayety
to the thoroughfares, and shops fas-
cinations are often doubled by its hav-
Ing beyond the counter an open divis-
ion where the article sold is manufac-
tured. In full view men are carving
wood, painting fans and lanterns.
weaving on hand looms, working In
metals, embroidering, all of which Is
done with marvelously little elbow
room, the Chinese being remarkable
for their ability to work and live in a
very small space.
One does not find all these industries
devoted to the manufacture and sale
of certain article. There are silk
streets. embroidery streets. fan streets.
carved ivory streets, shoe streets
where can be found all kinds Of foot
coverings, ranging from coolies
cheap straw sandal to the tiny en-
broidered shoes with painted heels,
destined for golden lilies. as the COM
pressed feet are called. There are
streets all glowing green with jade.
The prettiest OF all are the lantern
streets. So beautifully made are these
lanterns, and SO absurdly cheap are
they that it requires considerable self
control to refrain from buying them
by the hundreds.
One does not soon tire OF the shops,
but many other things in these streets
attract ones attention. There are
the wise men, or fortune tellers, with
their assisting trained birds, seated
on the corners; the itinerant restau-
rant containing such variety Of queer
eatables; the clever prestidigitators.
ready to squat down, and for few
cash perform wonders; the migratory
dentist, wearing as necklace string
of teeth; the barber. whose home is
seat on his box. and who. having
shaved customer, brushing out and
plating his pigtail. proceeds in the
name of massage, numerically to
punch and pound him, winding up the
performance by vigorously driving
into his victims ears a long ivory in
strument which an innocent foreign
devil almost expects to see emerge
through the opposite orifce; the mon
ey changers, who sit behind tables to
which their strings of cash are
chained, and the members and vendors
of all kinds Of things who walk about
with trays containing tools or goods.
as the case may be, slung on their
shoulders.
Then there are the professions, such
as funerals, all white scarfs and howls;
weddings all ablaze with scarlet, and
a crackle-crackle of exploding fire.
crackers; Joss pidgin professions, with
their roast pigs, baskets Of artificial
flowers. unearthly so-called music.
All these, as well as the long trains
which accompany mandarin's chairs,
belong to everyday life, but great
many days during the year have their
own special professions, such, for in
stance, as the f1shermen's. character
lied by its lanterns, resembling fish;
Paak-tais, distinguished by stuffed
birds borne aloft on poles, and trays
containing wax figures. representing
historical scenes; the procession in
which red giants and black dwarfs
are prominent; the dragon procession
and the lantern parade.
Several streets are occupied by the
Kuuo Yuan Or examination hall This