Chinese shops along Nanking Road had the busies day in years yesterday as thousands of residents hurriedly completed their Chinese New Year purchases notwithstanding the inclement weather.
Busses, tramcars and rickshaws were at a premium throughout the day and as far as the eyes could see, parcel-laden Chinese milled their way through the crowds. Department stores and food shops were literally besieged as assistants worked at top speed from early morning until closing time last night, Vehicular traffic for once gave consideration to the thousands who were unable to find walking space on the pavements and consequently made use of the roadway.
It was quite impossible to walk unhindered in any of the big department stores and, though eager to serve everyone, shop assistants were unable to cope with the terrific on-slaugh.
None of the Chinese shops was closed yesterday and many of them remained open until late last ight by which time the throng of customers had considerably diminished, Joss-paper shops came into their own again yesterday as thousands were eager to pay their respects to their ancestors.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.