SINO-MONGOLIAN FRONTIER 



mountains by this valley. The line follows the 

 northern side, passing a small town named Hsiah- 

 hua-yuan. Presently the valley widens out once 

 more into a small plain, on which is situated the 

 important city of Hsuan-hua Fu. Here our train 

 stopped for a few minutes. 



After leaving this place the line bends north- 

 ward, leaving the main valley, and, following the 

 course of a smaller one, finally reaches Kalgan. 



We arrived at about seven o'clock, after an 

 eleven hours' journey. Putting up at a Chinese 

 hotel, I went in search of the British American 

 Tobacco Company's headquarters. Here I found 

 my friends G. W. Brodie and F. M. Schroder, 

 whose acquaintance I had recently made in 

 Tientsin, and received a kind invitation to have 

 my meals with them while in Kalgan. 



They told me they were expecting two friends 

 from Tientsin, R. K. Douglas and R. G. Buchan, 

 who were on their way up for a shooting trip. 



Next morning my friends took me for a ride 

 round Kalgan. The town in some ways is typical 

 of those along the border, though it presents many 

 peculiar features of its own. The name Kalgan 

 by which it is known to Europeans, is the Mongol 

 one, and is never used by Chinese. Instead they 

 call it Chang-chia-k'ou, which means " the mouth, 

 or opening of the Chang family," and signifies that 

 originally the place must have consisted of a few 

 buildings situated at the mouth of the valley, 



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