Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/694

686 TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF HONGKONG, SHANGHAI, ETC. remains of the departed are deposited in readiness for transference to other places. In no people is the desire to be laid to rest in their native soil so strongly implanted as in the Chinese.

The walled native city, with its narrow crowded streets, lies to the south of the Settlement, beyond the French Concession. Its chief attractions are its tea gardens, with their curious examples of Chinese architecture, its temples, its execution ground, and — perhaps most interesting of all to the European — its "Willow-pattern Tea House," which is said to have been the original of the design upon the willow-pattern ware so familiar at home. The wall of the city was erected in the Middle Ages to keep out Japanese invaders.

Beyond the city lies the Lunghwa Pagoda, which may be reached by carriage, and should certainly be seen, for pagodas are not nearly so common in China as is popularly supposed. Adjoining the pagoda is a large temple, dedicated to the King of Heaven, and a monastery with three hundred monks.

In the same neighbourhood is the Siccawei Observatory, which is one of the finest institutions of the kind in the world. It is carried on by the Jesuit fathers, who also maintain educational and other institutions in the vicinity, over which they are always happy to show the visitor. They are now engaged in erecting at Siccawei a cathedral which will probably be one of the largest in China.

There are several Chinese gardens in the Settlement, among the most frequented being the Chang Su Ho Garden, on the Bubbling Well Road. where native theatricals, cinematograph entertainments. Chinese processions, fireworks, and other forms of amusement are provided. There are also, just outside the boundaries of the Settlement, two or three resorts, at which variety entertainments are provided and roulette is played.

For those who have a little time at their disposal, several excursions may be taken to places which will give the visitor a good idea of life in the interior of China. The trips may be made in house-boats, or, in some instances, by rail. The Feng-wan-shan Hills, originally islands in the Yangtsze Delta, are situated about thirty miles from Shanghai and are favourite week-end resorts.

Hangchow, with its temple and rock sculptures ; Soochow, with its twin pagodas, beamless temple. Tiger Hill Pagoda, Yamen and Gardens ; Nanking, a former capital of China, with its tomb of one of the Ming emperors; the Ta Hoo, or great lake, with its charming scenery; Kwangpoo, with its temple, pagoda, and gardens ; Wusieh, where the finest silk in the world is produced; and Chinkiang, another centre of the silk industry, are all within fairly easy reach by rail or water.

Further afield is Hankow, a place of great commercial importance, and of still greater possibilities. The port is situated some 600 miles up the Yangtsze, the third longest river in the world, and may be reached in one of the well-equipped river steamboats which ply to and from Shanghai. For some part of the distance the route lies through very beautiful scenery. Tientsin and Peking are only three or four days' journey from Shanghai, and the chief ports in Japan may be reached in from two to five days by any of the mail steamships.

ASTOR HOUSE.

THE ASTOR HOUSE HOTEL. The Hotel from the Public Gardens.

is the best-known hotel in the north of China. Its importance has grown, step by step, with the gradual rise in the prosperity of the Settlement, until now it ranks with any of the leading hotels in the Far East. All the several departments are under special European supervision, and everything has been done to secure the comfort of the guests. Leading straight from the entrance to the main residential portion of the house is a long glass arcade. Upon one side of this are the offices, where the clerks and commissioners will attend promptly and courteously to every want; upon the other is a luxuriously furnished lounge, and, adjoining this, the reading, smoking, and drawing rooms. The dining room has seating accommodation for five hundred persons. It is lighted with hundreds of small electric lamps, whose rays are reflected by the large mirrors arranged around the walls, and when dinner is in progress, and the band is playing in the gallery, the scene is both bright and animated. There are some two hundred bedrooms, each with