Cuar. VIII.) SHANGHAE. 115 
CHAP. VIII. 
SHANGHAE VISITED AT THE END OF 1843. — My LODGINGS, — 
PREJUDICES AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE INHABITANTS. — THE 
CITY DESCRIBED. — SHOPS AND MERCHANDISE. — FOOD. — AN 
IMPORTANT STATION FOR FOREIGN TRADE. — THE EXPORTS OF 
THE COUNTRY ; TEAS AND SILK EASILY BROUGHT TO IT. — THE 
ADJACENT COUNTRY DESCRIBED. — ITS CANALS. — AGRICUL- 
TURE. — TOMBS OF THE DEAD.— TREES AND SHRUBS. — 
GARDENS AND NURSERIES. — DIFFICULTY OF ACCESS TO THEM. 
— CUNNING AND DECEIT OF THE CHINESE.—A CHINESE 
DINNER. — THEATRICALS. 
SHANGHAE is the most northerly of the five ports 
at which foreigners are now permitted to trade 
with the Chinese. It is situated about a hundred 
miles, in a north-west direction, from the island of 
Chusan. The city stands on the bank of a fine 
river, about twelve miles from the point where it 
joins the celebrated Yang-tse-kiang, or “Child of 
the Ocean.” The Shanghae river, as it is generally 
called by foreigners, is as wide at Shanghae as the 
Thames at London Bridge. Its main channel is 
deep, and easily navigated when known, but the 
river abounds in long mud-banks, dangerous to 
large foreign vessels unless they happen to go up 
with a fair wind, and manage to get a good pilot on 
board at the entrance of the river. 
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