Business in Full Swing at Bubbling Well On the eighth day of the fourth moon of every year, occurs the Bamboo festival celebrated all over China by a fair at which articles made of bamboo are sold. Sunday, the 15th, being the eighth day of the fourth moon, the sellers of bamboo have already placed their wares to advantage for display at the end of Bubbling Well Road and. have begun a flourishing business. Besides the sale, many idols are worshipped and joss sticks burned. The temple there, where the sale takes place, is said to be some 2,000 years old and is very famous in Chinese history.
The streets running in four directions from the corner where they converge are lined with stands where everything is on display from bamboo baskets and chairs to toothbrushes. Many ingenious articles have been made out of bamboo. Little perambulators with every comfort including little rings conveniently placed for the baby to play with, chicken coops surround= ed with wire netting, baby baskets, chairs and beds of all shapes and sizes. The baskets are the most interesting to a foreigner, strong and well-shaped, and made in any size that could be desired. Some are coloured and all have well-made handles. Neither have they confined themselves to bamboo, for many hardware shops display their knifes and brass pen and ink sets and stamp boxes, hooks and kitchen spoons and ladles. There are some articles made of wood and there is even a notion department with brightly coloured hosiery on display and such knick-knacks as small brushes, handkerchiefs, fancy combs, etc. There is a sad attempt at a curio table but only one and here you are presented with "Ming" and "Sung" porcelains at $1 each. There are also articles made of wood and some big straw mats, and a few tables of pottery.
It would seem from this description that the fair hardly deserves the name of '"Bamboo festival" but it is true that the bamboo articles outnumber all others many times. The street in front of St. George's Cafe is literally packed on both sides with chairs, beds, etc., made of bamboo. And there is the ever-present Chinese chow-house to feed the hungry traveller from country districts.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.