Pekin to Paris - 1907 Author:Luigi Barzini Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III ON THE WAY TO THE GREAT WALL The wisdom of the ignorant—Over the bridges of Cambaluc—Our coolies—Nankow—The sacred valley—Our first glimpse of th... more »e Great Wall. By an order of the police all traffic was suspended upon our route for a matter of about five miles. The primitive two-wheeled little carriages which are used as public conveyances in Pekin stood waiting in crowds at the crossing of narrow streets and broad highways. The crowd, disciplined and obedient, also waited in rows by the endless chain of low buildings and shanties which line the broader arteries of Pekin, pressing against the black, smoky taverns which smell sharply of garlic or arrayed along shops with sculptured wooden fronts, coloured or gilt, hung with shop-signs bearing dragons and red silk fringes or lacquered plates covered with gold-lettered inscriptions, exhibiting that characteristic medley of forms and colours which adorns Chinese streets as if for a daily festival, and which moves, waves, vibrates, and seems to sway with the sound of life. It was the usual population of the market-place, careless and picturesque ; the everyday crowd, not one gathered together for this particular event. The spectacle of anautomobile race left the good inhabitants of Pekin in utter indifference. They looked at us without curiosity or aversion. Many deigned scarcely to throw a glance our way. You would have thought they had seen nothing else in all their days than racing motor-cars. We felt almost humbled. We had expected evidences of the greatest amazement, and behold, we only met with a sublime indifference. The fact is, that nothing which a European can do or seem has now the power to surprise a Son of Heaven. The miracles of our civilisation cannot even attract the attention of a Chinese boy. It ha...« less