416 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph International Film Service 



A PERAMBULATING CHINESE RESTAURANT 



This restaurateur is prepared to serve a meal wherever he finds a customer. He carries 

 his kitchen and his dining-room equipment at the ends of a long pole, which he balances on 

 his shoulder. 



and certainly country life in China offers 

 no stimulus to the mind. Always the up- 

 permost question is food for the mor- 

 row ; if this be assured, life's ambition is 

 satisfied. 



An intellect, to grow or even to keep 

 active, under these circumstances, would 

 be obliged to violate the law of the con- 

 servation of energy by creating some- 

 thing out of nothing. That the drooping 

 jaw is largely rural may easily be cor- 

 roborated in the cities, for here it will be 

 found that nearly all coolies so marked 

 were country bred. As one travels north- 

 ward, this feature is seen more fre- 

 quently. 



A NATION OF ACROBATS 



Up to the arrival of the motion pic- 

 ture, some six years ago, the Chinese, 

 even in the larger cities, had little in the 



way of really stimulating amusement. 

 Their theater is devoted to constant repe- 

 tition of classic dramas, acted and cos- 

 tumed in accordance with traditions and 

 conventions centuries old, so that by con- 

 trast our small street entertainer, shown 

 on page 410, is always sure of an audi- 

 ence glad to welcome a bit of novelty. 



The agility, small feet, and shapely 

 hands show a southern ancestry, although 

 the features savor more of the mixed 

 Yangtze type. In this case our inference 

 may be wrong ; he may be a chubby-faced 

 Cantonese stroller far from home. At 

 any rate, concentration on his own act, 

 struggling with curiosity as to what the 

 foreigner is doing, is giving him a sorry 

 moment. 



Observe the simplicity of his outfit — 

 a trestle, a tea-cup, and a peg for his 

 jacket. He will entertain the crowd for 



