CHINA.

Hokitika Guardian, 3 November 1923, Page 1

CHINA.

1 A new book “The Charm of the Alid- . die Kingdom” contains an intere.sting r account of life in China, by Air .J. R. Alarsh, who was for a number of . years an official in the Customs service in the country. In the course of bis duties lie bad to travel extensively. His journeys took him from Manchuria in the north to the jungles of tonkin in the south, into the interior and frequently far off the beaten track. He could speak the language, and was I on intimate terms with all sorts and I conditions of Chinese, whose hospital- I

ity he enjoyed. Hence we have a J graphic picture of domestic menage* in | A hina, from which the foreigner is in general excluded. Lie has something to say about the political and economic poblenis of China, and of the infanticide, which is the result of over-popu-lation. Ihe Chinese have a cult of ancestor worship. Alale infants are welcomed. but in many districts the practice of exposing female babies shortly afterbirth prevails. Air Alarsh had not believed it. hut under tho guidance of a I-renclumtn lie saw it for himself. His cicerone considered the overpopulation inevitable, the established order of tilings in China, but ns a matter of fact some authorities insist that if the natural resources of China were exploited she could support a very much larger population stilt. Mr Afarch

mentions that once on his way to Hongkong lie. met an Englishman who was greatly delighted with a “new” book be had just purchased, “The Treasure Island,” by one !!. L. Stevenson, who apparently was a resident of China, as t!ie Iwok bore the imprint “Kelly and Walsh, Shanghai, 1917.” A fellow-tra-veller told him that his mother liad read it- to him thirty years before. Rut the Englishman would not be convinced. “AYho’s King these days, anyhow ?” he said. ‘‘Why, George, of course,” was the reply. “Then look here.” said the Englishman with an air of finality. He opened tho hook at Chapter 3, and indicated what he wanted tho other to notice. “Read these words,” lie commanded triumphantly. The other read. “And God bless King George.” That settled it.

| Although there is a. chapter deseripI tivo of life in Pekin during the revolution when martial law was proclaimed, Air S. Iv. 0. Enders is not concerned in “Swinging Lanterns” with China’s political troubles. This hook is simply a record of her experiences during a tour in tho count ry which leit her with a lively sense of its beauties and its immemorial antiquity. Her starting point was Shanghai, a enrioublend of old and new, a bustling hive of activity, the most cosmopolitan city in China, with its foreign concessions and their exotic constabulary, burly •Siklis from India, quaintly uniformed Annamitcs from French Cochin China, and so forth. Shy writes ecstatically of Sooehow, tlie ancient city in the narrow streets of which the sunlight never penetrates. Here in a vast temple a golden statue of Alarco Polo the Venetian wanderer is enthroned. Site fell tinder the spell of l’ckin, with its wonderful palaces, its golden roofs, its great grey walls, its atmosphere of age and mystery. She. travelled far on a. lumseboait, and saw the teeming river life so typical of China.. Airs Linders' literary style is rather rhapsodi-

cal a.nd exclamatory, but she has much of interest to relate, and her hook is copiously illustrated with very effective photographs. (Appleton’s.)