The Portland daily press., 1901-02-06
and these who condemn her methods b..
iovs IN her sincerity of purpose.
DINING OUT In CHINA.
A Foreigners Entertainment In
A Chinese RestauraaA

Hot Wine, Tobacco and Opium,
with n Game Thrown In.
During the quarter Of an hour before
dinner the guests (only male, of course)
sit or stroll about. eating cakes-a favor
ite being a sort Of hot fruit puff (which
each orders for himself)-and slipping tea.
Melon seeds and salted almonds are also
In demand for desultory nibbling.
When our number is complete, a ire
mendous encounter Of good manners en-
sues. Though the question Of precedence
is of course all cut and dried beforehand,
each man must be polite enough to simu-
late an irrevocable resolve not to accept
any but the lowest place until the hosts
"Friend, 20 up higher" promotes him.
The table, as mentioned, is ready laid
with an imposing show; a regulation
number of regulation dishes, marshaled
in regulation order; quaint porcelain
stands filled with slices OF oranges, pears
or cold goose; towers of purple ounce
jelly squares, grapes or shredded chick
en- breast; saueers of shrimps salted in
their skins, and never forgotten, the ia
nous eggs preserved for years in lime and
served, sliced, in beds of brown jelly
(mueh priced for their acrid and rather
favor, but not usually ap-
preciated by foreigners). Hot wine of
various brands and vintages is served
throughout. That most commonly drunk
is a kind of sack or cherry negus. a yell
low wine distilled from Indian corn. Be
ing comparatively mild, 1t is served in
small cups; ardent white spirits of rice,
samshu, in thimblefuls. Rose" wine is
one of the several varieties favored with
roses (No wine is made from grapes,
though they are plentiful in north Chi
na.)
When all are seated ready for the fray.
the host raises his cup:
LET us drinkr'
We reply, Thanks. thanksr then set
to-with chopsticks-picking now from
one dish, now from another. in piquant
contrast of sweet. sour and salt.
The first fury of the opening attack be-
ing spent, the shattered bands of hors
d'euvres are withdrawn. and the guests
saunter into the other rooms for a Whit
OF tobacco or-whisper it not in Gath-a
pipe Of opium, en- attendant the real re-
past.
Certain traditional dishes form the
backbone of the feast. For instance,
that most delicious of bouillis, sharks
fin soup, always opens the ball. 1t is
served in a large bowl, smoking hot, and
consists of a glutinous entang ement Of
soft fms stewed in their own liquor. The
flavor is slightly salt, but exquisite. An
other traditional dish appears toward the
close Of the feast in the shape of fat
duck reposing in its broth. Though boil
ed so thoroughly that a touch from
chopstiek dissolves it without aid Of
knife, the bird appears ON the table with
smooth white breast and limbs intact.
and its nobly toothsome appearance Is
usually greeted with buzz of anticipa-
tory applause.
The remaining items OF the menu are
only curious from the mode of their se-
lection, for each guest chooses his own
dish, taking care that it shall harmonize
with those already selected. One names
a salmi of wild duck, his neighbor dish
of stewed mushrooms. and so on.
Wine, as remarked, is drunk through
out and always hot. The Chinese eschew
all cold drinks. The cups being small
their number has little effect. They
cheer, but do not as a rule inebriate. In
toxication is extremely rare, though not
apparently from moral considerations 81
much as from those of expediency, for
tipsiness is not generally regarded as dis
gracing.
The finger game, resembling the Italian
mora, is played during meals, the loser
swallowing as penalty cup of wine. Two
men play at time. They show suddenly
and simultaneously a certain number on
the fingers of one hand, and as each
thrusts them forth he shouts or squeals
the number which he thinks will be the
total of his own and his opponents tnt
gers. Thus, if A. thinks b. is going to put
nm three fingers he shows four and calls,
"Sevenr while b., expecting him to
show two, himself shows one and yocifer-
ates. "Threew This simple game is inn
menseIy popular throughout the IS prov
inces.
Dishes are not as a rule cleared away
during meals, so that toward the close Of
dinner the table is stopped and strewn
with debris, a vertable field of carnage.
From time to time the yonviyes retire to
smoke, and occasionally refresher IN
the shape of a coarse towel wrung out OF
hot water is handed round for the guests
to successively wipe their steaming faces
with-an agreeable process that has been
initiated in the luxurious toilet rooms OF
the United States. The apotheosis of the
dinner is the duck before alluded to. Eie
Is succeeded by few sweet dishes. FL
nally comes u bowl or two of white boiled
rice or millet porridge-to clean the pal
ate. In home dinners rice is the chief
item; in restaurant dinners it is rigidly
excluded until the finale. Rince bouches
of warm water follow, then cup of tea.
and the feast is over.
The guests shortly afterward disperse
the host apologizing for the wretched
dinner he mas dared to set before them,
the guests politely protesting, emphasize
ing their sincerity and repletion by vol
leys of eructations.
When the giver Of the feast leaves the
restaurant, the amount of the bill is, in
his honor, shrieked from court to court
as far as the street door. dinner such
as described for a dozen people would
cost about 80 shillings, would last three
hours or so ana would include, great
and small, more than so dishes.-Black-
vvoodsS Maeazinp.