Norwich bulletin., 1920-02-17
WORK AMONG CHINESE ToLDoF
 BY LOCAL "Y" REPRESENTATIVE

The following letter was recently rece- we'd by Secretary Edwin E. Hill of the Norwich Y. M. C. A.. from Robert W. Clark, of China, who is the representative in that country, sent there by the local 'eY." His letter, try will no doubt interest those who have been watching events in that country. The letter follows:
 Paotingfu North China, Jan. 1, 1920.
 My dear Hill:-Happy New Year to you! That will probably be out of date by the time this letter reaches you, but as the Chinese New Year doesn't come this year till February 20, we can count it as a Chinese New Year greeting. The old Chinese call endar, you know. is lunar instead of solar, and the New Year may occur any time between the middle of Jan uary and the last of Februarv. It was originally supposed to be the first new moon after the winter solistice, believe. The months are strictly lu- mar which makes them in general 29 and 90 days alternately. Twelve months generally make a year. but about every third year an. extra month is intefcalated to make I'D the shortage. The Gregor an Calendar has been adopted officially ard is . schools. but the common peon- still stick to the old ways. The, New Year is the great hol day of the -rear and all business ractically ceases for two weeks. Everyone goes home, and they all eat meat even if thev have to go without it the rest of the wear to make up for it (and lots of them dol. One fine custom is that all debts must be paid before New ears Day, but unfortunately it can not be enforced strictly.
 We spent the greater part of No- Vember in the south at the employed officers conference at Hangchow. -Four Of Us went, Hubbard, Wang. Lhu, and l. leaving only the teachers here to keep things. runninS We had a good conference and a. very pleasant trip. There were present g5 foreign and 110 Chinese secreta ries, Wh 'ch represents about half of our forces in China. I am inclosing an interesting clipping from the Shang- nal China Press about the person nel.
 The conference was conducted on the commission plan, the subjects discussed being religious work, edu- catlonal work, student work bows work, membership. secretariai train ing. and community service, The topic, however, that caused the most discussion, coming up in almost all or the commissions was the ft1tl1re felatlonship between the association and the church. This has become i've question in a number of cities because or church union, which is becoming more advanced in mission lands than at home. Almost all the larger cities have union evangelistic committees, at least. and it is 0ni+a . problem to know just what place fha association is to take on these com rnittees. In one or two cities actual organic union of the churches is be- Ing attempted, which makes the problem even more acute. The con terence took no formal action in the matter, but there was a very corr plete discussion. which clarified inc Issues. and paved the way for con- lure. '-io iu7
 MT. Wang stayed in the south for 2 couple or three. months lie has gone With a number of other promising young secretaries under the leader shlp or Wilbur and De Vargas. Of the national committee, to visit the as- soc-atlons of Canton. Hongkong, Foo cnoW, and Shanghai to study their work. He will also take a short
 tN7oOA1eltCu DuSlnGSS meth ods before he returns in the business o,tice o of the national eommittee in Shanghai under Mir. Hening. We have been receiving very encourag- ing reports of his progress.
 On the way back from the confer ence, we took advantage of the pres ence in Shanghai. of so many men from all parts of the country to call an. organization meeting 10 form a national amateur athletic union constitution was adopted and a tern porary executive committee was an pointed, of which am chairman. fo get this constitution ratified bv the ! various sectional federations. after which formal Organization will take place.
 Tn October we again helped ont r-ith the Central ChfhH Intoreehalas s- l tic Track and Field Meet, and it was | the best yet. As usual the local schools won most of the points Eight meet records were broken. four of them being new national records. Oi 1 the sixteen ordinary track and field 1 events, eleven of the national inter-