The Lafayette advertiser. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], La.) 1865-19??, 1906-02-28
officials are admitted.

OAlIClulS dr0 0OllIttcO.
In the second, the Imperial City,,
are the Offices of those who are con
nected with the administration of the
Chinese governments: the outer or
Tartar City proper, is occupied for
the most part by Manchus' shops and
According to its original
design, it was a permanent Tartar
encampment, a fortified garrison OF
bannermen or soldiers surrounding
the palace of the c~onquering Manchu
emperor.
With the exception of the Hon Kong
and Shanghai banks, and some of
the legations and hotels, temples and
palaces are the only buildings in
Picking of more than one story. 1t
is an ancient belief with the Chinese
that good spirits cross space one
hundred feet above the ground, and
therefore no buildings are raised to
this height for fear of O~bstructing
their passage and thereby mourning
their ill will, even the payilliOns sur
mounting the City gates, stop at 80
feet and, in consequence, Picking
produces a verv different effect from
a city in any other country.
Whether wide Or narrow, dark
alleys or maiE thOroughfares, the
streets, with one or two exceptions
are so neven SO filled with huge
blocks of stone, and the holes in
them so e and deep, that
travel in them in any kind of con-
veyance, is dangerOus-even on foot
it is inconvenient, and frequently
hazardous. Heavy, two wheeled
springless, covered carts, pulled by
mules or ponies, rickshas and sedan
chairs offer ear of transportation
about the city. Rickshas received
our patronage as we found them more
comfortable than the carts or chairs.
One of our most pleasant experiences
was viewing Peking from the top of
the wall dividing the Tartar City from
the Chinese. Looking to the north the
low house tops stretched away in the
distance, half hidden in foliage, from
which, here and there, q pagOda or
high rooted temple projected. The
chief places to be seer from this
elevated position were the great yellow
tiled palace In the Forbidden City,,
the dwelling of the "Son of Heaven"
as the Emperor is called, the drum
tower and legation quarter, where,
since the siege of 1900 new buildings
have been erected. To the south the
Chinese City, with itsS 'Beggar's
Bridge" .'Curio" street, lined on
both sides with shops in which can be
purchased anything under the Chinese
sun and off in the distance are the
beautiful, azure tiled Temple OF
Heaven, where the Emperor goes at
stated times to pray and the Temple
of Agriculture, in the grounds r
rounding which he plows a furrow
each spring, in honor of the earth
and to promote interest in the cultiva-
ton of the soil among his people.
One of the most imposing structures
in Picking is the Catholic cathedral in
the northern part of the city. 1t was
in this church that Bishop Favier
sheltered three thousand Chinese
Christians at the time Of the Boxer
outbreak and where, with the help OF
fifty French and Italian marines, one
Of the most pathetic and desperate
resistances Of modern times was
maintained for almost two months.
On Hatamen street, n of the princi-
pal thoroughfares of the Tartar City
is the magnificent monumental arch
erected on the spot where Baron Won
Ketteler, the German Minister, was
murdered, just before the beginning OF
the seige in 1900. We visited the
Confucian temple, celebrated in
particular on account of the ten stone
drums; which are there preserved.
These stones are inscribed with verses
which date back several centuries
before the Christian era, The Lama
Temple formerly q magnificent palace
of one of the Royal Princes, was also
found to be interesting, it has served
Is q monastery for more than three
thousand Mongol Lamas, with the
living Lama at their head.
The two objects which attract most
attention here are the tablet whereon
is inscribed in four languages the
history of .Lamism. and the huge
statue of Buddsh, mor than 10 feet