ClIAi'. XI. 
BATHS FOR THE MILLION. 
197 
well known, and even my friend Mr. Mackenzie, with 
whom I was staying, did not know me for the first few 
minutes after I sat down in his room. 
In the town of Shanghae, as well as in many other 
large Chinese towns, there are a number of public hot- 
water bathing- establishments, which must be of great 
importance as regards the health and comfort of the 
natives. I will describe one which I passed daily during 
my residence in Shanghae. There are two outer rooms 
used for undressing and dressing ; the first, and largest, 
is for the poorer classes ; the second, for those who con- 
sider themselves more respectable, and who wish to be 
more private. As you enter the largest of these rooms, 
a placard which is hung near the door informs you what 
the charges are, and a man stands there to receive the 
money on entrance. Arranged in rows down the middle 
and round the sides of both rooms are a number of small 
boxes or lockers, furnished with lock and key, into 
which the visitors put their clothes, and where they can 
make sure of finding them when they return from the 
bathing-room, which is entered by a small door at the 
farther end of the building, and is about 30 feet long 
and 20 feet wide ; the water occupying the whole space, 
except a narrow path round the sides. The water is 
from 1 foot to 18 inches deep, and the sides of the bath 
are lined with marble slabs, from which the bathers step 
into the water, and on which they sit and wash them- 
selves : the furnace is placed on the outside, and the 
flues are carried below the centre of the bath. 
In the afternoon and evening this establishment is 
crowded with visitors, and on entering the bath-room 
