Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 73 (Color Image)

0073	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

HAN-CHUNG TO CHENGTU 43

great brigand centre, but there had been some

severe fights with the brigands and Pereira was

not molested. And he now descended on to the

Chengtu plain.

This state of things so close to Chengtu showed

what a state of chaos China had fallen into.

Another sign was the prevalence of gambling. In

Shensi and Szechwan the inns were filled with

gamblers, soldiers and civilians, who play a game

like dominoes most of the day and night, and

with their shouting and noise making sleep very

difficult.

The Chengtu plain is about 90 miles in

length and about 40 miles wide at its widest.

Its area is 2400 square miles and its population

1,920,000. It is from 1600 feet to 1800 feet above

sea - level. It begins about 30 miles east of

Chengtu and is one of the most fertile parts of

China. It is watered by a wonderful system of

canals, mostly crossed by solid stone bridges. The

people seemed much quieter and less offensive

than the people of Shensi. And the soldier had

none of that tendency to be offensive to the

foreigner which Pereira had noticed in Shensi.

On his arrival at Chengtu, Mr. Hewlett, the

Consul-General, came out to meet him and warned

him that the Chinese officials had prepared an

official welcome for him in the northern suburb.

So at the end of the long trek from Peking, whilst

he was still muddy and dirty, he had to go through

the ordeal of getting out of his chair and being

received by a Chinese General and a representative

of the local Foreign Office, whilst the band played

the Chinese National Anthem, after which he was

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