The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-02-14

Very little is known of the inside life" of our local Chinese quarter. Much has been written by superficial observers. who never entered it's social walls of seclusion. There is little social life in Chinatown. Very few Americans are ever invited into Chinamans residential quarters and even then he does not meet the female members of the family. It is great mark of respect and confidence on the part of a Chinaman when he in- vtes a European into his parlor, and when tea is served the guest is especially honored. The tea is brought in when the caller arrives, so that he may un- derstand this fact, but it is not drunk until he is on the point of leaving. It Is not etiquette for him to inquire about the 'health of the family" Naturally, Chinese social life seems peculiar to our people. Oriental ideas of society are quite different from ours. The Chinese, espe- cially, are so hampered with convention alities, etiquette and peculiar notions Of what is proper, that they have no so-
 ciety, as we understand that word Of
 expansive meaning. There are no socials,
 or assemblies where men and women meet
 for entertainment, and possible love mak-
 ing. Chinatown has not even theatre
 where the men could get a view of the
 women in private boxes, as etiquette does
 not permit them, whether married or sin
 gle, to sit among the male spectators. few years ago when the Los Angeles
 Chinatown was in it's splendor, there was g. theatre, but now, with population of only 5000, they cannot afford such lux
 ury.
 The rules of proper intercourse be-
 tween the sexes, or, rather, the rules prohibiting intercourse of any kind. are strict strongly implanted in their social code, and admit of no exceptions, or vio- lations, save with loss of respect and dishonor.
 Not only are mixed assemblages prohib- ited by the code, but husband and wife do not appear together in public. A man is rarely if ever seen on the streets of
 Chinatown with his wife Theoretically,
 he is her superior, and it is prejudicial to
 his dignity. No one ever saw young Chinese couple walking the streets of Chinatown. It would be disgrace for the woman, and the man would be a sub ject for one of the 'hatchet societies. Imagine a Chinese lily hanging to the arm of a young gallant and entering a chop suey restaurant at 10 o'clock at night. All Chinatown would turn out to see the novel sight, Men do not even accom- pany the women to joss house. Each sex goes alone, and they have separate hours. Dinners are given on festival days, but the wives and daughters are not invited. The only women present are the profess sional singers of which there are 10 or 12 in the Chinese quarters. They are not considered as respectable, being classed with actresses. A quartette of these women play and sing during the dinners, which last from o'clock until midnight. They do not dance, holding that they are above such work, which properly is the duty of slaves.
 The Chinese give little time to recreation or amusement, and have but three reg ular holidays-the Chinese New Year, which lasts several days being the most generally observed. Dinners, funerals and an occasional wedding are the other most important events in their social life. The men have their fan-tan. lottery and domino games. Most of the women also play dominoes among themselves, with more or less silence. A tiny pipe of