Evening star., 1924-10-09
CHEK|ANG CALLED
INDIANA OF CHINA
Province Where War Rages
Rich in Age-0Id Traditions
and Customs.

and Customs.
Manehuria, Peking, Shanghai and
many other place names that appear
| in reports Of China's civil strife are
Well known to Americans Not So
Chekiang, home province of Tuchun
Lu and large part of his forces who
are defending Shanghai.
In some respects ChekianE is the
indiana OF China" says a bulletin
from the Washington headquarters
of the National Geographic Society.
indeed, its area approximates that
OF the Hoosier State, though it has a
population as dense as that of Rhode
Island. Like Indiana, also, il has di-
verse industries and is not dominated
by any one great city. as is the case
with kiangsu, to it's north. where
Shansha1 oVershadows provincial life.
White Silk in American Stores.
True. Chekiang has Hangchow.
ancient Chinese capital and erstwhilc
center of statecraft and learning
And, although Hangchow's white
| silk is the prize goods of Americas
fashlonable shops, the city's principaI
interest for the traveller is in its
scenic beauties and historic shrines.
Besides Hangchow, Chekiang also
has Shaohing, famed for a LIQUOR
oreWed from the waters of a loca
| lake; the waning treaty port of
Ningpo; mountain bound Huchow
| scene of three-year siege by Tai
ping rebels, and Kashiag, celebrated
egg center. Poultry, like silk. es-
| sentially is home industry and some
families use an artificial process to
| hatch $4,000 or more eggs a year
From the kashing region of Che
klang comes pitan. esteemed by epi-
! cures from all over China. -Pitan con-
sists OF ducks eggs preserved in A
| mixture OF lime, salt and rice hulls.
| during which process the white of the
egg solidifies and takes on a gre eenish-
black color and taste which is con
| ceded to be incompara BILE. both by
those who like it and by those who
! do not.
/ Fighting often Diiettante Procedure.
"A peculiar feature of the fghtinG
! Of ChekianS troops reported in dis
patches is the firing of rifles and ar
! tillery into the skies. The Chimes
are believed to have invented gun
powder, but they still use il more ef-
| fectiveiy for fireworks than for pro-
| Jectiles. In war, as in peace, the Chi
nese are philosophical. In a previous
war between d Hangchow army and
their northern neighbors history re-
cords that it rained on the day of Il
scheduled battle. The Hangchow com
manders sent a request to The oppos-
ing general asking that fighting be
| postponed until the weather was
| more favorable. The arrangement
| was mutually agreeable.
"Chekiang is the third most densely
populated province of crowded China.
and the burden of supporting its /.
! millions is thrown on the fertile
| plains of its north. It's people thin
out appreciably among the mountains
| in the west and south. These wooded
mountains. many rivers dotted with
groups of tiny islands, and the Grand
Canal, which terminates at Hang
chow, all go TO make the province
one Of the most picturesque in east
ern China.
Farmer Outranks the Soldier
THE farmer, and even the farm
! hand, of Chekiang is highly respect
ed. Cultivation is intense, but mod
ern implements or fertilizers have
small chance of adoption because the
farmers are too poor to buy them. In
the social scale of Chekiang the sol
der ranks below the farmer. Ere
Quently the soldier is q family out
cast and the haphazard character OF
much of the fighting in the present
skirmishes may arise from the fact
that the discipline of the army is
| much less rigorous than that of the
soil
Both farming and fighting are
handicapped by the complete absence
of any roads. There are only paths.
| worn by plodding oxen, carabaos and
! coolies
Here and there, in Chekiang s
| fierce struggle for rice to eat and silk
| to sell, traces of its ancient aristoc-
racy remain.
The "Cabarets~ Of Hangchow."
West Lake. just west of Hang
| chow, retains the natural beauties
which won high praise from Marco
Polo. There, Of an evening. Hang
chow gentleman entertains his friends
on sumptuous houSeboat as they
| lounge on divans and eat dishes Of
kind which. in all probability, Mar
! CO Polo tasted. For the. chefs OF
these floating 'cabarets' pride them
selves on serving menus that were
famous in centuries long past.
"The ceremony for an evenings en-
tertainment has an etiquette as rigid
as the team ceremony of Japan. At
certain points in the lake tour the host
must acclaim the charm of the Beau
tiful Views This is not a spontaneous
matter at all; the views are numbered
and named. Their names lend poetry
to what seems a perfunctory method
of enjoying natural scenery. One is
The Winding Hall of Fragrant
BreeZes.' another is Willow Bay.
Where Eagles Are Heard: number 10
is 1.-TWO Cloud Piercing Peaks
''The host also must engage enter
tainers. These are the .Sing-Sons
Girls No more in Hangchow than in
New York would an artist walk to a
dinner party when she was to perform
But her taxi gives the Western guest
a moments surprise. She arrives at
the waters edge astride collies
| back.
CoOlie Is Cheapest Carrier.
Though Hangchow has streets the
collie still is the more economical car
rier. His two-wheel carts can handle
| from two to four tons. depending on
| the bulk. His back can bear a corpu-
| lent merchant. so that run across
| town with dainty 'Sins-Song Girl is
| a welcome relief. And he. with his
wife and children, are cheaper than
on the Grand Canal. For boat power
| he and his oars compete only with the
cost of sails to catch the winds.
Not only the Grand Canal, but
many lesser ones. traverse Chekiang
and carry rice from the plains, tea
from the mountains and silk from
everywhere, along with lesser Quanti-
| ties of cotton, indigo and sugar. These
reed sheltered channels also support
| innumerable duck farms and bear
many houseboats and sampans.
| "Hangchow is reputed to have been
| the first Chinese soil where America n
| missionaries set foot It's libraries
are famous, but they often constitute
| a principal point of attack for native
revolutionaries, because the peasantry