Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1903-11-16
A GLIMPSE OF HONGKONG AND
CANTON.

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city walls. The pagoda is guarded
from without by massive stone lior
and is built in the angular STORED
architecture common to the country
Lunch brought from the boat is eaten
A Chinese lives in the pagoda and
makes living by selling hard cookies
and questionable drinks purporting
to be lemon soda, to unsus pecting
pilgrims An Englishman, speaking
of the kind of water obtainable in the
East, said that he never drank water
hut found it convenient for bathing.
If, indeed, anyone should drink a
glass of Canton water, he would need
previously to have saturated his
system with anti-toxine for all kinds
of germ diseases. This pagoda con-
tains Buddhist image and was built
eight hundred years ago to keep
away wars. From the highest story
an excellent panoramic view of the
city can be obtained The hills below
in every direction are full of graves,
some mere round holesin the ground,
others marked by granite stones.
The Chinese custom of sending the
bodies of their countrymen dying in
foreign lands back to China for burial
tends in measure to increase the
number of graves. A flower pagoda,
two hundred feet high, containing
eighty gods and nine circular stories,
is prominently seen at this point.
The houses of Canton are low and
are mao of wood or stone with tile
roofing. The bodies of dead man
darins, enclosed in elaborate collins,
lie in state at the City of the Dead.
There are several temples of note
in Canton. Occasionally a Moham-
medan mosque is seen. The Temple
of Longevity, or The Doctors Tenn
pie, is rich in wood carvings, which
appear in relief upon an arch and
upon the walls of the outer court.
Inside everything is dirty and smoky
on account of the burning joss sticks.
Grotesque images abound. Two
other temples worthy of mention are
the Temple of the five hundred Genii,
which, as it's name indicates, is liter
ally crowded with bronze Buddhas.
and the Temple of Honam, which is
guarded by four gigantic figures
twenty feet high. This latter temple
covers seven acres of ground, is pre-
sided over by one hundred and
seventy-five priests, and is reputed
to be one of the finest in all China.
Chinese priests are distinguished by
their smooth shaven heads. The
element of chance has a prominent
feature in their worship. A short,
round piece of wood split in the
middle makes common form of lot.
A woman in temple was observed
trying her fortune with these pieces
of wood. After mumbling a prayer
she dropped both sticks to the floor.
In case of each stick the round side
came up, very bad omen. She has
tily bought another written prayer of
the attending priest. Tremblingly she
muttered the magic words for several
minutes; then made her second
throw. This time the sticks showed
one fiat side up and one ronnd side
up. This was very good sign SO the
woman went away happy. The
are surrounded by beggars
and vendors of small knickknacks,
depending on foreigners for al ms and
The religion of the
Chinese is mixture of Confucianism,
Taoism, and Buddhism. Ancestor
worship, the veneration of idols, and
the dedication of prominent men and
national heroes are prominent fea-
lures of their belief. Polytheism,
and fatalism enter into
their religion.
The streets swarm with people who
have no idea of the outside world.
The scent of opium reminds the
tourist that the Chinese are ac-
customed to hit the pipe, when they
dream of worlds that are and of
worlds that are to come" The char
acteristic dress for men in China is a
black blouse of cambria or silk with |
short. baggy trousers of the same
Women wear the same |
apparel except that in their case the |!
blouse is little longer. Their, too,
the men invariably shave the front |
part of the head and wear queues.
A Chinese evidently takes great pride |
in his pigtail, which he pieces out till |
it reaches nearly to the ground and |
ends in a tassel. Men wear shoes |
having silk uppers and thick, white,
leather soles with no insteps. Women
of the weather. class wearing shoes |
only three inches lonp ara often mot |