rd slope are
worn in winter by mandarins, conical straw hats in summer. Women have
elaborate head ornaments, decking their hair with artificial flowers,
butterflies made of jade, gold pins and pearls. The faces of Chinese
ladies are habitually rouged, their eyebrows painted. Pearl or bead
necklaces are worn both by men and women. Officials and men of leisure
let one or two finger nails grow long and protect them with a metal
case.

The staple food of the majority of the Chinese in the south and
central provinces is rice; in the northern provinces millet as well as
rice is much eaten. In separate bowls are placed morsels of pork,
fish, chicken, vegetables and other relishes. Rice-flour, bean-meal,
macaroni, and shell fish are all largely used. Flour balls cooked in
sugar are esteemed. Beef is never eaten, but Mahommedans eat mutton,
and there is hardly any limit to the things the Chinese use as food.
In Canton dogs which have been specially fed are an article of diet.
Eggs are preserved for years in a solution of salt, lime and wood-ash,
or in spirits made from rice. Condiments are highly prized, as are
also preserved fruits. Special Chinese dishes are soups made from
sea-slugs and a glutinous substance found in certain birds' nests,
ducks' tongues, sharks' fins, the brains of chickens and of fish, the
sinews of deer and of whales, fish with pickled fir-tree cones, and
roots of the lotus lily. A kind of beer brewed from rice is a usual
drink; _samshu_ is a spirit distilled from the same grain and at
dinners is served hot in small bowls. Excellent native wines are
made. The Chinese are, however, abstemious with regard to alcoholic
liquors. Water is drunk hot by the very poor, as a substitute for tea.
Tea is drunk before and after meals in cups without handle or saucer;
the cups are always provided with a cover. Two substantial meals are
taken during the day--luncheon and dinner; the last named at varying
hours from four till seven o'clock. At dinner a rich man will offer
his guest twenty-four or more dishes (always a multiple of 4), four to
six dishes being served at a time. Food is eaten from bowls and with
chop-sticks (q.v.) and little porcelain spoons. Men dine by themselves
when any guests are present; dinner parties are sometimes given by
ladies to ladies. Chinese cookery is excellent; in the culinary art
the Chinese are reputed to be second only