NOTES FROM CHINA.

NOTES FROM CHINA. 1905

Mr. Wilfred Chong, writing from Canton, China, says:

We visited the British Consul resident here, and he advised us to forego our trip to Hoy Ping (the birthplace of Mr Chew Chong), which is some miles up the Canton river, as it is unsafe to travel inland. Father has gone but I am staying alone here until he returns. Scarcely any war news is heard here. We went to see the famous joss houses at Fat Shan. The images in these places are thousands of years old, and we also visited the palace of 500 images of great men who lived hundreds of years ago. We saw some wonderful carving at Wong Gee Palace. The stone walls are covered with queer designs, as well as the brass beams and all the woodwork. I am quite a champion now with the chop sticks, as English methods are not used much here. The sunset scenes here are beyond description, so are the mosquitoes. I have to fan my net before I go to bed or I know all about it in the night. I have seen some Chinese ladies with feet three inches long, and some have finger nails 1 to 2 inches long. Going up the river, after passing a Rocky Entrance, a beautiful sight is obtained of the long, low mud flats, where the rice is grown, and the river is thronged with boats of all descriptions. We have only two meals a day, one at 10 a.m. and one at 7 p.m.— a long time to wait. I have been over the French bridge to Shameen, the British and French concession. This island, about forty years ago, was nothing but a small island of silted mud. A strong stone wall was built around it, and then the inside was filled. It is a mile and a half long and half a mile wide. The British have tlhreequarters of it and the French one quarter. The buildings are very fine, all of brick and piaster, and the gardens are very prettily laid out. No Chinese, except the nurses, the house coolies, and the police and soldiers (who guard the bridges to the island) are allowed there. Since we have been here seven or eight Chinese have been beheaded inside the Great Wall. I have seen some poor fellows with gaugues, or great wooden collars, round their necks. They sit at the street corners while crowds of men and women stare at them, and once when I approached to have a look the crowd moved away and stared at me, and I heard some saying fan gui," meaning "foreign devil. The prisoner looked up at "me and held out his hand for coins, but the policeman spoke to him. I moved on, and met a man whom I afterwards found out had leprosy. These lepers are taken at night to a place where they sleep, and during the day are allowed to beg in the streets. It is a terrible sight fo see their half naked bodies one mass of diseased skin

On the island of Shaimeen, there is one hotel, the Victoria, a fine place containing about 40 sleeping rooms. To be sure of good water they send to Macao, 100 miles away, where the water comes from the mountain springs, so anyone visiting Canton can be sure of wholesome water at this hotel. We were fellow-passengers with the manager of this place, so he showed us all round the lovely gardens, which are wonderfully arranged with pots of flowers, shrubs, and palm trees. The first thing in the morning, the guides come to take.'the intending tourists in sedan chairs into the city of Canton, and they take them to the temples, pagodas, and joss houses. They carry all day for the sum of two dollars. An American and Chinese company have just opened up a railway line. It is only 30 miles but they had great trouble on account of the dead bodies buried where they wanted to lay the line. However, the Chinese at last took up the remains and put them into earthen jars, which I saw along the line on my way to Fat Shan. Each station has a soldier to guard the line and the employees on the railway are all Chinese engine-drivers and all. Whenever I go down a street a host of children as well as adults follow me, saying "fan gui, fan qui." If I stop and look round at them, they hurriedly stop to look into a shop and when I move on they, follow up again. The country round about is infested with robbers and marauders. They wander about robbing and plundering people and boats. I am living at the large wholesale drapery warehouse, near the wall of Canton, where the Chinese tell me, they think no white man has been before. It is a beautiful place. The sun shines all day on a large window in the roof. This they open, and a fountain containing gold fish plays all day. The fountain is on a small island in the centre of a pond, which is surrounded with palms and trees. The living rooms are very comfortably fitted with easy lounges and every convenience.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 12900, 4 July 1905, Page 8