The Chinese of Shanghai appeared to be in better circumstances than those in Canton. The young women are very distinctive, and were seen to better advantage than in other places. The millinery era has not reached China, so far as applies to Chinese women, and for that reason most of them go about without head covering. When one is seen wearing anything on the head, it is generally a man's cap. Chinese women are very particular about their hair, and, when not all combed back, it rests on the forehead, like bangs. Hundreds of young women may be seen with bare head, wearing a shiny silk jacket and snug-fitting trousers. They are straight as an arrow, and their rosy cheeks, unassuming manners, tidy hair, and generally neat appearance unite to their credit. The Chinese boys are mischievous little fellows, and all the children seemed fat and strong, with rosy cheeks. The "Chink kid" was the most attractive we had met. All the children seemed to have double the amount of clothes necessary, and most of them wore bulky shoes, made of grass and reeds.
Chinese cooks, as a rule, are paid no regular salary. They agree to feed a family for a certain sum a month, and the money not used out of the fixed food allowance is his. He does the marketing, and it is needless to add there is some sharp bargaining between grocer and butcher and the cook. For a European family of six a cook would agree to furnish food for from $50 to $60 a month. Beef and mutton sold at 15 cents a pound. Vegetables, however, were proportionately cheaper.
One of the courts of the Settlement is known as "the Mixed Court." A Chinese judge presides, but there is always an American or an English official sitting on the bench with the native judge. Punishment is meted out to the native not as the Chinese authority would have it, but as the white officials suggest. Most of the black and yellow races prefer to be adjudged by a white man, for a white judge will have more of the milk of human kindness in his heart than a colored official. Like Indians, the upper class of Chinese seem to be little concerned about the condition of the poor and starving. The well-to-do Chinese give alms to the needy often, to be sure, but that apparently laudable trait is practiced more out of fear of a beggar's curse, when evil days would befall him. The high-caste Indian also gives to mendicants to ward off evil days.
The Native City is located outside the bounds of the Settlements concession, where Chinese were as numerous, and the streets as narrow, as some in Canton, but of much smaller area. Some of the territory within the wall was under water—a pond—over which a bridge had been built. The bridge was purposely built nearly zigzag to foil the Evil One if he should pursue any of them. Beggars were very numerous in that section of Shanghai, and the mothers, like those seen in Canton, begged, at the same time holding up the little hand of a babe, in which one might put any offering. The Long-Hau pagoda, seven stories in height, located outside the city, is a credit to Chinese skill.
Few horses were seen drawing loads in Shanghai. Most of the cartage and trucking is done on bamboo poles by Chinamen and with hand trucks, pulled by ropes and shoved. Five Chinese pull the same load a horse would draw.
The condition of the ricksha pullers of Shanghai is pitiable. Fifteen thousand Chinese are engaged in this occupation, some of them so weak that they frequently fall to the ground from exhaustion, caused by an empty stomach. When a Chinaman quails under hard work it is because he has not a fighting chance to make a showing. Chinese pay them two and three cents for a ride, while Europeans pay five cents and over. The owners of the rickshas pay 75 cents a month to the Settlement as a license fee, and the puller must pay the owner 40 cents a day. Often, when a puller has not earned the rental sum, 40 cents, he will remain in the streets all day and most of the night in the hope of at least earning the required charge. If he cannot pay the 40 cents he is deprived of his occupation until he has settled for the last ricksha.
The wheelbarrow of this city, used to carry passengers and move goods, is the oddest device in use the world over. It differs from similar vehicles in that the wheel is in the center of the frame instead of in front. Above the wheel is also a frame, on which to carry articles of light weight. A rope is tied to each end of the barrow handles, and the loop rests on the Chinaman's neck, passing under his arms. A Chinaman will wheel a weight of half a ton for miles on this crude device. An article may weigh 500 pounds which cannot be divided—must be carried on one side, the other side free of weight—yet he will short-step along with the one-sided load until he has reached his destination. The barrow will not tip over. On each side of the wheel may often be seen sitting Chinese women with bare heads, wearing white blouses with pink stripes about the sleeves, with baggy velvet trousers, and snow-white stockings showing over neat, boat-shaped, black or colored velvet shoes. Passengers get a long ride on the wheelbarrow for from two to five cents. The owner pays a license fee of 40 cents a month for his crude vehicle.
Windows of Chinese temples, and sometimes other buildings, are the same as those seen in Manila—light colored seashell.
Both the dollar and the tael are in use in Shanghai, the former worth from 40 to 50 cents and the tael about 65 cents.
Chinese mechanics are paid from 20 to 40 cents a day. Printers receive $10 to $18 a month. The working time is eight or nine hours a day. Carpenters were on strike for an increase of from two to five cents a day. If a Chinaman hod-carrier, or one working at unskilled labor, should be taken sick, the wife will often take his place until her husband is able to resume work.