30 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I42 



dragon-boat festival furnish entertainment for thousands and some- 

 times tens of thousands of people. The Autumn Festival is a day 

 when people go out on the hills, enjoy the scenery, and sometimes 

 write poetry. 



An important kind of entertainment is the theatricals. Until more 

 recent years, only men were actors, and some of them became very 

 clever in acting the parts of women and girls. The plays generally 

 portray .events in the past history of China, so that in addition to 

 providing amusement, the plays also have an educational value. 

 Herbert A. Giles (1911, p. 160) called the theater the national recre- 

 ation of China. 



Chinese men and boys show a great deal of skill in the making and 

 flying of kites, which are sometimes flown to great heights. 



At feasts two guests often play "guess-fingers." Each will display 

 at the same time several fingers on one hand. At the same instant 

 each will try to guess the total number of fingers displayed. If one 

 guesses right and the other does not, the one who fails has to drink a 

 cup of wine. The game is sometimes continued until one or both the 

 players are drunk. 



Two very common forms of social entertainment and amusement 

 in West China are feasts and tea drinking. The Chinese make a de- 

 lightful variety of tasty foods, and thoroughly enjoy them. There are 

 feasts at New Year time, at Ch'ing Ming, on important birthdays, at 

 funerals and weddings, and at many other times. The guests wear 

 their best clothing, and invariably reciprocate by inviting their hosts 

 to a feast at some later date. 



Tea drinking is sanitary, for the water is purified by boiling. In 

 the homes tea is generally preferred to water. When guests come to 

 visit, they are always given tea to drink, and at feasts or parties, each 

 guest has his cup of tea. Every city, town, or village has its tea shops 

 where guests, for a small sum, can sit around a table as long as they 

 wish, talking and sipping tea. Often business affairs and even quar- 

 rels are settled over the teacups in the tea shops. 



In recent years the Chinese have adopted many foreign games and 

 amusements. To mention only a few, there are poker, association 

 football, track athletics, tennis, basketball, volley ball, and moving 

 pictures. 



SOME SPECIAL SOCIAL CUSTOMS 



There are four things about the social life of the Chinese that de- 

 serve special mention. First, the Chinese have a good sense of humor 

 and enjoy laughing at a good, friendly joke. It causes all who are 



