AUCKLAND'S CHINATOWN.

Shannon News, 2 March 1926, Page 4

AUCKLAND'S CHINATOWN.

OLD HOUSES BUT CREAK CONDITIONS. Although New Zealand is more east than west, yet is it of the west, and the somewhat hackneyed Quotation "East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet" is applicable so far as tho people of the Dominion and the Chinese within its gates are concerned. Comparatively the Chinese residents in New Zealand arc few, and their reserve and peaceloving dispositions make them a silent factor in our midst. On the surface and probably actually so, their existence in exile is drab in the extreme. That' it is not always so one learns on seeing 7 ,thc portrayal of the character of "Mr. Wu" or East of Suez," that sordid play with Chinese setting:. Again one is not likely to find in New Zealand the high class Chinese household to which Mr. Sen took his English wil'e on his linal visit to his na- | tive land. | A "Star" reporter a day or two ago had a peep into Auckland's Chinatown. Something of a fallacy has' always obtained among a certain section of the public that these men of the Orient in our midst live in filth and squalor. A visit to a house or two where live these aliens would quickly dispel any misconceptions that have been harboured in the minds of those who do not know. It is' an unfairness to regard them as dirty people who live in filth, and a 'strange combination of smells. They are not men who put b-.nanas under their beds to ripen or who breath on apples to make them shine. Just as it is with every other race in + u « world ,ther e are some who prefer to

join the ranks of the great unwashed but the greater part of the- Chinese residents; here arc staunch believers that "cleanliness" is next to ' godliness." \ \ Eating House Deji&icies. Auckland's Chinatowri-4if such it can be called —extends over a wide area. In every suburb is tihe Republic of China represented. But it is in - Grey Street, and around that district that the largest number of these Celestials are congregated.; It is here that we find a Chinese eating house run by Chinese! for Chinese. It is a strange place. The red, yellow, blue, white and black flag • of the Republic of China spread's itself'across one of the walls of ■ a large assembly hall of sorts. There are photos of Chinese masonic societies and weird Oriental prints of birds of the air. Down a narrow staircase is the restaurant pooper, and here a meal full of Chinese luxury can be obtained for 2/-. (Such a meal, if prepared by Europeans, would cost double the amount). An elaborate menu is presented. "Long soup" heads the long and extravagant list of eatables. It contains pork rolled in a special Chinese preparation. It is eaten with chop sticks and a china spoon, and is regarded as a real delicacy. The cooks are adepts at making cakes, fancy scones and buns with jam of sorts made from burnt peas, and a "strange preparation it is. ".Lovely," one of the diners told the reporter, who was many times invited to try one of their numerous delicacies. After the soup, duck fowl or pork is served. These are cooked in the Chinese fashion, and it is doubtful whether they would titillate the palate of the European. The fowl is suspended in the oven by a hook. Oil is frequently poured overit, and so it cooks. Tea is served, but again, it is not the tea that would be relished by the Englishman. They use neither sugar nor milk. A big pot of tea is made in the morning, and kept warm by enclosing it in a basket lined with a thick padding. Sometimes one brew will last all day long. When a diner wants a drink he goes to the pot, pours out about a quarter of a cup and drinks that. No more; that is enough. Although

old and somewhat tarnished, it is a clean and wholesome place, and all the cooking is done in full view . Of the diners. The food is protected in glass cases, and there are fly screen cloor3. It is a strange) place this Chinese restaurant . The atmosphere is so. different. The diners eat with chop sticks, and it is astounding the facility with which they use these long pieces of ebony. How They Sleep. : Upstairs, are the sleeping quarters. Not long ago we would find a couple of boxes, with two wide planks stretched across. On this would be placed a thick blanket, and on this they would sleep. Now we find in all 'their homes comfortable and up-to-date beds and bedding. All day the top sheets and blankets are neatly folded back the whole length of the bed, so that when night comes they sleep in well-aired bedding. Sidelights. In one house the occupant and his wife showed a bedroom) which was like that of an expensive hotel. Thickly carpeted with a richly coloured rug, with beds of expensive wood and with attractive paper pn the walls „the room presented quite a bright contralst to the usually sombre settings of a Chinese household. In a youth's bedroom there was something of a barbers shop.\ An array of hair oils, perfumes, powders shaving creams and sundries decorated his room . The latest cut American suit was hung on a coat-hanger and carefully covered by a sheet of Lrown paper. All these belonged to a lad of sixteen. He showed a high intelligence. He has been in New Zealand only one onth, he averred, but "* I had spent two years in Fiji. There he had learned the art of working tortoise-shell, and made for himself among other things a wrist band his watch. He told, in - almost perfect \ 1 English, something of his short life, and made great speculation as to thft .visit of the "stranger with the notebook."

\ A touch of loyalty to the land of their adoption was shown by some of the colonial-born Chinese. In a couple of rooms there was photo- t graphs of th e King and Queen ,and in another a splendid photograph of the Prince of Wales looked down from the walls. Nearly all the | young men showed a love of English beauty, for in many of the rooms there were photographs and prints of English girls, and they displayed a rare choice in their selection jof prints. An autographed photograph of a vaudeville artist was seen in one room. One young man. in displaying his tidy littl e room, proudly produced a photograph of a Celestial lady arrayed in the elaborate apparel of the Orient. They Love Their Homes. Life at the back of Chinese shop has probably been painted .on the canvas-of the average man's mind in many mysterious colours, but after a tour through these alien quarters the picture becomes a brighter one. The, air of mystery disappears, an'd we find a clean-living, industrious, and home-loving people with whom it would be difficult to find fault. To the inspectors of the Health Department belong- the credit of pointing the way to wholesome living conditions and seeing that these are maintained. ,