18 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. I. 
through which I passed, is narrow when compared with 
streets in European towns ; but it is well paved and 
reminded me of the main street of Ning-po. Hang-chow, 
however, is a place of much greater importance than 
Ning-po, both in a political and mercantile point of view. 
It is the chief town of the Chekiang province, and is 
the residence of many of the principal mandarins 
and officers of Government, as well as of many of the 
great merchants. It has been remarked not unfre- 
quently, when comparing the towns of Shanghae and 
Ning-po, that the former is a trading place, and the 
latter a place of great wealth. Hang-chow- foo has both 
these advantages combined. Besides, it is a fashionable 
place, and is to the province of Chekiang what Soo- 
chow-foo is to Kiang-nan. Du Halde quotes an old 
proverb which significantly says that " Paradise is above, 
but below are Soo-chow and Hang-chow." 
The walls of this terrestrial paradise are said to be 
forty le in circumference, that is, about eight English 
miles. Although there are a great many gardens and 
open spaces inside, yet the extent of the city is very 
great, and in many parts the population is most dense. 
The suburbs also are very extensive, and must contain a 
very large population. Sir George Staunton supposed 
that the population of the city and suburbs was equal to 
that of Peking, and Du Halde estimates it at a million 
of souls. 
The houses bear a striking resemblance to those of 
Ning-po, Soo-chow, and other northern to^vns. "Were I 
set down blindfolded in the main street of one of these 
Chinese toAvns, even in one which I knew well, and the 
