isa-normaladvance-1914-00141

Description:	THE NORMAL ADVANCE141Mv Summer in CfnnaBY F. M. LINDLEYT3EFORE telling of the summer I spent in - China, I wish to say two things: I am not nor have been a traveller, and, though Ive been in China and one or two other countries, I did not go under escort of the Cook Tourist Co.I happened to be in Yokohoma once, when a Cook ship came in with some seven hundred so-called tourists. I had been there two weeks, and was bemoaning the fact that I had but four more days in which to see the many things that were yet unseen. How long do you suppose the Cook party remained in this, their only stop in Japan? Just forty-one hours. They were there from eight oclock one morning till one oclock the next night. And they left rejoic¬ ing, because when they made their trip around the world, dont you know, they were in Japan. Yes, they were there all right. One man I saw was gathering material for a series of lectures on Oriental countries, and I havent the slight¬ est doubt that he is giving those lectures today to admiring audiences.But dont misunderstand me—I merely want to insist that I wasnt a patron of Cook while in China.My experience in China was not very exten¬ sive. I was never more than seventy miles in¬ land, and most of the time in the larger coast cities. But in these places, there is the advan¬ tage, for this class, to see just how the China¬ man is being influenced by civilization.So Ill confine my paper to three cities— namely, the English city Hong Kong, the Ger¬ man city Tsingtan, and the cosmopolitan city Shanghai.Somehow, when I was considerably younger, I aways felt about China as I did about fairy¬ land—some faraway, inaccessible country thatI should never see, though I never ceased hop¬ ing that some day I might have that good for¬ tune. And when, on that beautiful July night, the rattling ships anchor was dropped oppo¬ site Hong Kong, and I looked from the ship to the lighted city which is built on the side of a small mountain, I thought that at last my dreams were realized. But in the daylight, I was somewhat disappointed with my first view of the city. I expected it to be not unlike the San Francisco Chinatown, only larger, full of strange buildings, temples, etc., but I saw in¬ stead, a very modern, beautiful English city with its fine churches, imposing buildings, and all that makes any city in England what it is. But if the city disappointed me on its first ap¬ pearance, I was agreeably surprised after my first excursion about it, for the true Chinese ele¬ ment is there in many respects. And that is what I wanted to see. Wherever I am, the most interesting thing to me is the people. Scenery and all that is all right, but to be perfectly right, it must be a background for the people. I like to poke around and look at the people—■ at what they are doing, and their manner of do¬ ing it. Will you go with me then, for a visit to Hong Kong ?As we near the dock, we see hundreds of ricksha men, fighting each other, almost, in an effort to be nearest the dock. Their din is aw¬ ful, and wTe hardly know what to do. But there is only one way to escape it, and that is to step into one of these rickshas. Now a ricksha, or a jinricksha, to be correct, is a little two-wheeled carriage. A rubber-tired, nicely cushioned af¬ fair it is, built for one passenger, and drawn by a man. Dont hesitate about getting in—every¬ body rides in them—and besides, you will not
Source:	http://indstate.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/isuarchive/id/32597
Collection:	Indiana State University Archives

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