"Those of the richer classes are surrounded by a high wall, and composed of a number of rooms, generally on one floor. In large cities some houses have another storey; but the Chinese think it 'unlucky' to live above ground."
"The Chinese seem to think everything either lucky or unlucky," Sybil said; "it does seem silly. I do not wonder that you always told me not to say that word. I don't think I shall ever want to say it again now; and I used to say it rather often, usen't I? But I did not mean to interrupt you, so please go on now."
"Some houses are very large, which they have to be, in order to accommodate several branches of the same family, who often live together in different parts of them.
"There are generally three doors of entrance to a house, of which the principal, in the centre, leads to the reception hall, into which visitors are shown. I have seen the walls of rooms hung with white silk or satin, on which sentences of good advice were written. All sorts of beautiful lanterns hang from the sitting-room ceilings, sometimes by silk cords. The furniture consists principally of chairs, tables, pretty screens and cabinets, with many porcelain ornaments, and fans are very numerous in a Chinese household. Most houses have very beautiful gardens; even the poor try to have their houses surrounded by as much ground as possible. Many houses also have verandahs, where the Chinaman likes to smoke his evening pipe. Indeed, women, even ladies, smoke pipes in China. I have a picture of a verandah scene in the south of China."
"Are these people rich or poor?" Sybil asked.
"Certainly not rich, but also not very poor."
"You were saying the other day, father, that Chinese people smoke something else besides tobacco?" Leonard then asked.
"Opium."
"What is opium?"
"The juice of the poppy, which, after being made into a solid form, is boiled down with water."