xperiencing a taste of real Northern winter, just the tail of it but
sufficient. Coming up from the Equator, as we have done, the shock is
rather awful. This winter, they say, has been an extraordinarily severe
one, even for Peking, where it is always cold; they tell us it has been
the coldest winter within the memory of the oldest foreign resident. I
don't believe much in these superlative statements, however: people
always make them concerning hot or cold weather, in any climate or in
any country. However, the thermometer went so low on several occasions
that the pipes burst, and the hotel was without heat; very trying with
the weather at twenty below zero. Nevertheless, in spite of the
lingering cold, in spite of the dust, in spite of the hard water and
other discomforts, Peking is the most delightful place in the world, not
even excepting Paris, than which, as an American, I can say no more.

We have been here a week now, have recovered from our Chinese colds, and
are getting hold of things again. We are catching up with all the
gossip, all the rumors, all the _dessous_ of Chinese politics, which are
such fun. And just as I expected, too, it wasn't safe for us to go away,
to leave China to flounder along without us. Things have happened in
our absence: I won't say that we could have prevented them, but at least
we could have been on the spot to take notes. That is what makes Peking
so absorbing,--the peculiar protective feeling that it gives one. In a
way it seems to belong to us; its interests are _our_ interests; its
well-being is peculiarly our concern. You wish the best to happen to
China, you wish Chinese interests to have the right of way. And
whatever you can do to promote such interests, however small and
humble your part may be in advancing them, it is your part
nevertheless, and the obligation to fulfil it rests upon you with
overwhelming insistence. As I told you before, China is overrun with
"advisers." Consequently we all feel ourselves "advisers," more or
less, all capable of giving advice just as worthless or just as
valuable as, certainly more disinterested than, that which the Chinese
Government is compelled to pay for. Everything is in such a mess
here--so anarchic, so chaotic--that you feel you must put out a hand
to steady this rocking old edifice; and you also feel that your hand
is as strong, and probably as honest, as the next one.

[Illustration: Chinese funeral]

[Illustration: Chinese fun