This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1876 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER V. CHINESE CITIES AND VILLAGES. A Chinese city viewed from a distance--Fire walls--Suburbs--Foochow-f u--The great bridge--Streets--Shops--Signboards--Walls --Boats--Villages--Huts--Village life--Village warfare--Hired braves--Robbers--Government interference--Settled communities. The typical Chinese city, when viewed from a distance, presents a vast area of tiled roofs, rising to a nearly uniform height, and a network of narrow alleys and streets. In most of the densely populated towns the roads are so contracted and the overlapping eaves of the houses so broad as to convey the idea that the place is made up of one unbroken mass of human dwellings; but in cities, such as Peking and Nanking, there are many straight wide roads and open breathing spaces. These two cities, however, are the ancient and modern capitals of China, for which reason they were specially laid out to accommodate the imperial Court and the aristocracy. In towns, where available space is really of greater importance to the people, sunlight and pure air appear to be carefully excluded, hence all the inhabitants who may desire to cheer themselves by a glimpse of the blue sky and a draught of the passing breeze must resort to their house-tops, which are commonly decked with rows of fragrant flowers set out in pots, and surrounded with ornamental rails marking the limits of a small wooden platform. Running along the ridges of the roofs numerous jars may also be seen filled with water to the brim so as to afford a ready resource in case of fire. They have no fire engines, and indeed only those of the most portable kind would be of any service, since otherwise they could never be conveyed to the scene of a conflagration. We may also notice that the close packed...