'A prominent member of Sino-foreign circles, in Shanghai, Mrs. Chen. who is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs F.C. Yen. left for Moscow in February with her uncle Dr. W. W. Yen, Chinere Ambassador to Moscow. Mrs, Chen 1s acting as official hostess to the Legation there, which furnished the obligato for Hongkong's down-town celebrations. Whether it was an intricately-wrought float mounted on a lorry, with Chinese maidens nodding. among the flowering shrubs, or 3 many-times-enlarged deer, a synthetic shrub in his mouth, which went trundling by, the thad-thud-thud of these drums never ceased. From to 7 the processions toured the Colony, and when they stopped, it was only to give way to a new company.
For by night there was even more splendour. "By actual count 150 mammoth fish, each as large as pre-historic amphibian, but each carefully modelled from real life in the China seas, went through the streets.
'These were cunningly wrought of sik, with large gleaming eyes, and kerosene lamps within to make the whole creature glisten in the darkness. They were mounted on bamboos, and' one man could manage the lesser "Ash, but often it required two to balance the nobler specimens.
Our Friends the Fish These lighted fish lanterns toured the streets of the downtown district tirelessly that we who were out seeing the sights came to know the individual expressions of many of the fish. There was no monotony about them, one may be sure.
The Jubilee Celebrations touched Jeveryone in Hongkong, except perhaps a few bed-ridden citizens who did not bother to have festivity. themselves carried to the scenes kept the Jubilee Celebrations a dark secret, The Chinese heard about them, Jand came from all over the South, 200,000 strong, according to the most optimistic estimates. But Hongkong made no bid for visitors. from felsowhere. And now. the tourists who came through ty the. Empress of Britain and the Resolute will never believe that Hongkong has a whole week of early summer sunshine, and merry-making that continues far into the night.
No. 1 Boy to the Rescue Many Chinese must have had an Jopportunity to brush up on their Jcurrent history. The No. 1 Boy at Reuter's called together the rest of the Chinese staff and gave them a lecture on the meaning of the Jubilee and the tocal celebrations. At least one amah of whom T have heard remembered from some form= Jer mistress the occasion of the Coronation a quarter of a century ago. But then the Chinese in Hongkong have an opportunity to absorb European culture, if such it may be Jcalled,. and to acquire European viewpoints, such as few in any other art of China ever enjoy.
And they did enter into the colebrations with heart and soul, - There /was no use in going to a tailor; to begin with, you had to wait so long to get across any street you might The road teadiny to the front door' should be overhauled in view of the heavy rains to be expect ed next month, A road that is much used requires almost daily attention; any loose stones. bee come levers under car wheels break up the surface, fare, and anyone one who posseased a balcony was able to find out Just how popular he was with his {friends and acquaintances.
Fashions to the Front Tailors, however, did a good buslness for weeks ahead of the Jubilee, So did the numerous gown salons which are going forward s0 bravely with the business of making Hongkong truly clothes-conscious. For Jdhis Colony, which usually has Uttle time for garden parties, and Tess ced for filmy attire, turned out en masse when it was invited to. the Garden Party at Government House Jon May 6.
Hongkong has gardens, like 'Shanghai, and it has also appropriate weather, much better than the usual Fun of Shanghai's spring days. But ere, instead of putting on. long dresses and floppy hats, as for a garden party, people take off all the jelothes that' decorousness permits and go to the beach. Last Monday of course, was different. was almost 4 o'clock however, before the streets were suMclently cleared to let cars pass up Garden Road on their way to Government House, It was an' informal party, with men in lounge sults, and' thei Increased comfort ought' to hav [made up for any lack of splendour which came as a result of such attire. Here the women aid their Time for Superlatives To make a long story short, Hongkong no longer has any adjeeives left in her collective vocabulfry. Even those who wert not confronted with the task of relaying on to the walting public what most People had seen, or at least heard, Jthe day before,' were desirous of writing to people at home about the tala occasion, "So no one has an adjective worth mentioning int his command these da At Toast once we were told that we were living in a Veritable Fairyland. And such the Island seemed to be. Kowloon was perhaps even more impressive, for the large buildings along the waterfront were out-Uned with chains of lights. From 1 distance they might have been figures on a leviathan Neon sign, with lights poured in glass tupes around hem.
Hongkong, having more height as well as breadth to handle, was of necessity dark in patches, but householders and others used electricity with a free hand All the Clubs had gala nights, most of them rather informal. was best sulted to the occasion, There were enough official "do's" during the aay.
Everyone agrees that Hongkong, asa Colony, and as individuals, Jepent more for the Peace Colebrations in 1918, and again when the Prince of Wales made his historic visit to Hongkong. "People had more money then. But those who remember the festivities are unanimous in saying that for spirit of cooperation, and for effectiveness of ithe celebrations, this past. week' gala programme leaves nothing to bbe desired.
Hongkong has become a thrifty housewife, who knows how to utilize home products to the best advantage. She likewise has a thought for the lof-overs. There are tons of flags Jand bunting in storage now!
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.