The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1911-11-26
ANCIENT CHINA WILL
WELCOME TOUR PARTY
Strange Customs and Cities Are Shown for the Ben
eft of Winners in The HeraIds
Travel Contest

When The Washington Herald's three
instance Of extremes meeting everything
being of the most radical contrast to the
accustomed life and ways of America.
Yet the traveller must concede the credit
TO China of long preceding Europe and
America in the most important inven-
tons, such as the compass. paper, print
ing gunpOwder, and porcelain, and a
Chinese astronomical chart as far back
as 200 B. c. shows the earliest studies
of the heavenly bodies.
A returned traveller. who was one of the
steamship Cleveland's passengers on the
world tour last year, tells of the party
visit to China:
Our ship reached Hongkong Harbor
at about o'clock in the morning. Sam
pans surrounded us as We entered the
port. Peculiar sailing craft, prominent
for the huge sails, ribbed with cross
beams. were scattered here and there.
while above US the peak lowered some
Zoo feet out of the sea. The island
stands as sentinel guarding the ap-
proach of the Pearl River. on the banks
of which lies the city of Canton.
The view from the deck of the CIeves
land at night was glorious. The long
stretch of hickerlng lights which crowned
the mountains easily might have been
mistaken for Il new constellation. With
an area of twenty square miles and many
sheltered bays, this harbor. into whose
protection We had sailed, Is one of the
finest in the world.
Since lo4l the island of Hongkong has
BEEN a British possession. The popula-
ton is cosmopolitan. but out of the 30o,-
900 inha bitants $4,000 are Chinese. Be-
fore British possession thousands of
blood thirsty pirates sailed up and down
the rough coast. To-day Victoria, by
which name the city is known, As the
Gibraltar of the East.
We attended one of the largest of the
Chinese theaters. Europeans pay twice
the admission fee of natives, but the
natives are driven of the seats to make
room for foreigners. The Chinese theater
Is primitive In the extreme. Much Is left
to- the imagination of the spectator. The
din and noise of So-called musical in
struments drown the actors voice. The
scenery Is changed by simply shifting a
few articles on the stage. During the
most tragic and pathetic parts children
play Chinese tag and other games at
one end of the stage, and at times are
almost under the actors feet. No women
appeared on the stage, their parts being
played by men.
"On one occasion one OF our party, be-
ing venturesome, acted as a guide, and
ignorant himself of what might be
the result, volunteered to show US
a native home. We went into one of the
doors adjoining Chinese shop on a
small side street. climbed two flights OF
stairs and ladder. and found ourselves
In the private, apartments OF a native
family. Here they lived in poorly. venti-
lated. close quarters, but In happy en-
joyment of their humble home life.
I'VE admired the artistic work on a
baby pillow. When we offered to buy IL
the money was refused, and II was
presented to us as a souvenir of our
visit This pillow was made Of clay,
burned and glazed and highly decorated.
To soften the hard surface some kind Of