148 EGGS IN CHINA. 
EGGS IN CHINA. 
Mr. FRANK G. CARPENTER, a recent traveler 
in China, says: 
The Chinese are very fond of eggs, but they 
never eat them soft-boiled, and they believe that 
an egg grows better with age. Preserved eggs 
are one of the dainties of China, and it takes 
forty days to pickle them. ‘The eggs are cov- 
ered with a mixture of tea-leaves, lime, salt and 
wood-ashes, made into a paste, and are then 
packed away in wood-ashes, which all over China 
are sold to the egg-packers for this purpose. 
The older an egg grows after packing the better 
it is supposed to be. There are methods of 
pickling which turn the eggs as black as_ jet. 
In some cases they are steeped in water in which 
the leaves of fir or cedar-trees have been boiled. 
The Chinese also pickle eggs in salt water, and 
they regard these salted eggs as good for medi- 
cinal purposes. They have certain festivals at 
which they give presents of hard-boiled, dyed 
