Page:Ling-Nam; or, Interior views of southern China, including explorations in the hitherto untraversed island of Hainan (IA cu31924023225307).pdf/183

 Lien-Chow and the Lu People. 179

that, for a time, the beautiful plain was changed into a lake, dotted with numberless evergreen islands.

No Chinese city that I have seen can compare with Lien-chow in beauty and attractiveness of surroundings. it is situated in the midst of a fertile plain, with endless variety of mountain scenery on every side. There are the massive barriers to the east, through which the river winds in its narrow rock-bound channel. To the south are groups of peaks of various shapes and altitudes ; and on the west, trending a little toward the north, the great dividing range lifts for many miles its massive form, ridges of almost equal height, into the clouds, while in the foreground, and set in contrast with its solid regu- larity, are many striking peaks, like domes and towers, covered with a fresher garment of vegetation, and present- ing a more picturesque aspect. The hills. about Lien- chow are covered with snow in the winter, which falls to the depth of several inches on the higher levels.

The city proper of Lien~chow is a very small affair, but the suburbs extending to the south and east are the scene of a busy trade. In the eastern suburbs is a pagoda, dating, it is said, from the seventh century, in a half-rninous condition, with a large red-walled monastery, and wide-spread banyans at its foot. It is a conspicuous and picturesque object, its crumbling tower bravely with- standing the ravages of time. Just beyond the limits of the eastern suburbs begins a stretch of low rocky hills, furnishing fine building sites, and from which streams of the purest water flow perennially. The western line of the city stretches along the riverbanks for nearly a mile, and the narrow stream is quite filled with boats.