Chap. XXII. 
THE CHINESE CITY. 
361 
country, and are, no doubt, worthy successors of 
old Father Ripa. 
My next excursion was through the Chinese city 
to some gardens which I had been informed were 
to be found in its southern suburbs. I passed out 
of the Tartar city by the Ching-wang-mun, the 
centre gate of its south wall. Inside and outside 
of this gate I observed carts in great numbers 
waiting to be hired, just as we see the cabs in 
London. Like them, the carts of Peking have 
their stands in the public thoroughfare. The noise 
and bustle ahout this gate was perfectly deafening. 
Carts were going to and fro, rumbling along on 
the rough stone road, and now and then sinking 
deeply into the broken pavement. Donkeys, 
horses, and long trains of camels laden with the 
productions of the country, were toiling along ; a 
perfect Babel of noisy tongues was heard in all 
directions ; and the dust was flying in clouds and 
literally filling the air. Stalls of fruit, hawkers of 
all kinds of wares, beggars ragged, filthy, and in 
many instances apparently insane, crowded the 
approaches to this gate. 
When I had passed through I entered a straight 
and wide street which led through the centre of 
the Chinese city from north to south. The north- 
ern portion appeared to be densely populated. 
Each side of the main street was lined with shops 
and stalls, and a much more active trade was 
carried on here than in the Tartar city. The shop- 
fronts in Peking are rather striking, and differ in 
