Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-07

| IiSSN Sll of Europe than a cycle OF
| IN SSl Cathay" was not written of
IkA MI Shanghai. This twentieth cen
IIK(Al tury city rejoices in many
lksA3ls&l pseudonyms. It's pleasure
loving people call it the Paris
of the orient, its manufacturers call u
the Manchester of the east, and its
hustlers say it is the Chicago of China.
Everybody likes it, and to him who has
dwelt in Shanghai for a space of years
there is no other spot on earth so DEAR
| Shanghai is one of the most i'm
| portant seaports of the world, but it is
not on the sea. The big ships come up
the Yang-tse river to Woo-sung and
| there drop anchor. Passengers change
to a steam launch and chug-chug
twenty miles up the Whang-poo, or the
| Huang-pu creek to the city of Shang-
hal. When Shanghai was selected a
half century ago as the great European
port the Whang-poo was considered
large enough for all ordinary sea traffic
The big ships came, and Shanghai has
been getting farther and farther away
| from the sea ever since.
The trip up the Whang-poo, or the
Huang- -pu-there is wide latitude in the
Romanized spelling of Chinese names
is impressive and educational. One sees
the huge factories which line the banks
of the small river, one sees the evil
dences of a mighty river traffic with
the interior, one sees progress and pros
perity on every hand. But having ar
rived at the Bund and having alighted in
Shanghai itself, one forgets all about
industry and commerce.
For here is a marvellous city to see;
a city which is European by the look or
the buildings, city which is Chinese
by the look of the people, city which
is distinctively and uniquely charming
by the feel of the atmosphere. 1t seems
;f kha hriQlSG in the world
had been brought to Shanghai to build
houses with, and for every million gray
bricks a thousand red ones for trim
mings. Shanghai has color scheme
which no builder dares to violate, and
should an architect presume to plan a
house differing in essential particulars
from that first British-built Shanghai
house he probably would be boiled In
oil. Whatever ones personal opinion
of the gray and red brick houses as in
diVidual houses, II cannot be denied that
the adherence of every builder to the
uniform scheme has produced in very
truth the City Beautiful.
There are three Shanghais, geograph-
icaljy-the international settlement, the
French concession and the Chinese ma
tive city. In the old days the several
nations had separate concessions ana
built each it's own town. For purposes
of convenience all of them but the
French consolidated and the 1nterna-
tional settlement came into one being.
1t is now the largest and most impor-
tant part of Shanghai. Along its Bund,
or water front street, which is the prln-
cipal artery of the city's life, the sky
line monotony is varied by the mag
nificent bank and club buildings. Inc
Bund continues into the French con-
cession, the dividing line being small
canal, On one side of that canal Eng
lish is the language and British are the
customs. On the other everything is
French. Not far away, but carefully
hidden from view of the Bund, Is the
walled Chinese city which was here
ages before the red-haired barbarians
of Europe descended upon these happy
Chinese to make trouble. Two rioiG- I
ulous cannons Of the fashion OF MIL
lennium before last are mounted over
the gate, and a horde of wise and
greedy guides wait under them to en-
trap the unwary tourist.
The International and the French
cities are the same to the eye. Inc
Chinese city presents the contrasts.
wide paved streets electric car lines,
electric lights, we'll kept parks-thfs is
the European part of the city. Streets
four feet wide, dirt, filth and all man
ner of abominations-this is the native
Chinese city.
Rut the greater part of the modern
CITY is lnlaD1Leu softly Dg AiV
and it is here that one sees how we
celestials adapt themselves to the con-
ditions of western life. Imagine vide
avenue, well paved, fianked by rows
Of business houses of uniform color and
size. Each shop proclaims its character
to the Chinese wayfarer by means OF
huge signs hung out over the sidewalk.
Every sign is of the same size, preserv-
ing the uniformity OF the houses. Let
ters of gold shine out from black
lacquered backgrounds on every one.
The shops with their plateglass win
dows, their electric lights, their dis
plays of wares are no whit different
from small shops in any western city.
But the fact that their signs are all
uniform and all in perfect good taste
transforms what might be a dismal
business street into an avenue of re-
markable beauty.
Then there is Foo-Chow road-the
street given over to pleasure and TO
sin. The houses are modern and Eu-
ropean in construction. All the rest is
Chinese. The long rows of three story
buildings shelter shops on the ground
floor The two upper stories have open
verandas running their whole length
and the walls are but windows to be
pushed aside in pleasant weather. At
night millions of incandescent bulbs
make the whole street as brilliant as
Coney Island. Five of every six houses
ORC devoted fO the business of selling