. New China and old : personal recollections and observations of thirty years. ,in imitation some say of the strange but fragrant freakof nature, the lemon called Buddhas fingers. Thepagoda stands on a low promontory on the shores ofthe fair and renowned Si Hu, or western lake; but thewaters of the lake were hidden by the city hills as Istood on the deck of the ferry-boat. One more pagoda attracted my attention : the ancientpagoda of Pao-shuh (founded 936), on the northernshore of the lake. Its tapering metal point rose clearagainst the sky, far beyond the masses of the citywalls and hous
. New China and old : personal recollections and observations of thirty years. ,in imitation some say of the strange but fragrant freakof nature, the lemon called Buddhas fingers. Thepagoda stands on a low promontory on the shores ofthe fair and renowned Si Hu, or western lake; but thewaters of the lake were hidden by the city hills as Istood on the deck of the ferry-boat. One more pagoda attracted my attention : the ancientpagoda of Pao-shuh (founded 936), on the northernshore of the lake. Its tapering metal point rose clearagainst the sky, far beyond the masses of the citywalls and houses. To the eastward, far down the peace-ful stream of the great river, small islands near its mouthseemed lifted by the mirage of the brilliant mirror of itssurface clear above the parallel outlines of the land,with a shining band of burnished water beneath we approach the city shore, the hills to the westwardof the city above and around the Six Harmonies pagodareveal their different faces ; and marks of the SummerPalace and pleasure-grounds of the Sungs, ruined and. Earthly Paradise. 43 grass-grown now for 600 years, are discernible, with thegradients in the turf of the winding roads which led upto the mountain-top. I am reminded, as we near the city landing, thatHangchow and Soochow (the second city of the adjoin-ing province of Kiangsu) are to the Chinese heavenlyparadises— Heaven above ; Hangchow and Soochowbelow ; and in truth on that warm summer afternoon,Hangchow looked from a distance like a glimpse ofcelestial regions. Before we draw nearer and watch its intramural life,and before we leave the tranquil surface of the Tsien-tang, look at the river once more. We have crossedwithout incident or accident. The thirty or fortyChinese passengers sitting on the boat-side, or crouchingin the bows or on the decks, have smoked and talkedcontentedly. Some well-to-do people, men and womenin sedans, have remained seated in the chairs suspendedover the hold of the vessel, t
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Keywords: ., bookauthormouleart, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1902
