Read "The Face of China" by Emily Georgiana Kemp online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
We left Shanghai by steamer on October 2nd, and reached Tsingtao (the port of Kiaochow) at about 8 P. M. on the 3rd. We were grateful to be allowed to stop on board for the night, as our train started from a station close at hand at 7 A. M., and we were saved the trouble of going to an hotel. The harbour is picturesquely situated at the mouth of the bay, surrounded by hills which have all received German names since the occupation. We were up betimes, and rather disturbed by the non-appearance of the Customs House official, without whose presence we could not go ashore. However, he appeared in time to let us get to the little wayside station, and we found other passengers waiting there, seated on the line with their luggage in a haphazard way. The Germans have not only got the concession known as Kiaochow, but also thirty miles on each side of the railway line which they have built from Tsingtao to Tsinan, the capital of the province, a distance of about 250 miles, through the centre of the province. The port is laid out just like a German town, and has hotels, statues, a post-office, commercial buildings, and private houses. The place is a fashionable summer resort, consequently the prices are high, and have gone up at least 50 per cent. since the coming of the Germans, who spend money lavishly.
The German Government has just decided to build a High School for Chinese boys of the upper class, at a cost of £30,000.