Most innovations begin in Shanghai and then spread to Peking, as for instance the "Worlds," at which one may see dozens of cheap entertainments for one small admission fee; but Peking sets the style for conservative acting and that ater spreads to Shanghai. Shanghai then saw'the first theatres, modelled after western style, that is, western style in tone but not to the last detail. Most conspicuous, according to the Chinese mind, is the fact that the institution is housed in a foreign-style building and that a curtain is used on the stage, Yet, the curtain im front ig a double affair, never a drop oF a type. The capacity of such theatres ig two or three thousand. The Talchsin Watal, just completed last year and at the corner of Yunnan and Foochow Roads, is the largest Chinese theatre in Shanghai. The stage curves out liberally into the audience, reminding one of the olg days when the rectangular stage Jutted into the open air auditorium, The seats are wide, comfortable, and. upholstered, while the steam heat is one of the modern facilities that no other Chinese playhouse in Shang-can boast of. However, the tea ju always with us, for attached to the seat immediately before our own is a board shelf, for our teapot, cup, cigarette, and whatever else we care to pat there.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.