CUSTOMS 239 



Chinese house during cold weather. It is a 

 custom, however, that when a Chinaman 

 begins to feel the cold he will put on an 

 additional suit of clothes, and when he feels 

 the approach of warm weather he will begin 

 to disrobe as the temperature becomes 

 warmer. 



But if the shooter could find an inn or 

 private house that appeared comfortable 

 inside the smell around either would very 

 likely cause him to turn away. It is 

 difficult to understand the keen appreciation 

 the Chinese have for bad smells. However 

 neat the outer appearance of a house may 

 be the atmosphere about it is invariably 

 filled with the most repelling scents. In 

 the " Social Life of the Chinese " Doolittle 

 has given a more detailed account of the 

 customs than any other writer, and makes 

 a nearer approach to covering the entire 

 subject, but after all his industry and 

 research and the closest observation a 

 partial view has been presented, and the 

 subject, like the great country itself, is 

 still exhaustless. In the " Chinese Char- 

 acteristics " Smith has interested and 

 instructed, but the information he gives 

 relates mostly to one part of China, and 



