there was a
general devastation. Foreign residence was sanctioned only as a result
of the first Chinese war. The signing of the treaty of Nanking threw
open Shanghai and four other ports to foreign trade, the latter being
Swatow, Amoy, Foochow, and Ningpoo, but these have never acquired the
importance of Shanghai, which has the advantage of being at the mouth of
the Yangtse River.

In 1849 a concession was granted to the French, but as late as 1850
there were only one hundred and fifty-seven foreign residents, and
twenty-five foreign firms doing business. Shanghai is distinctively a
commercial city, with a flat location, no background, and an artificial
foreground of solid rows of business buildings. The approach to the city
reveals a succession of mills, docks, wharves, engineering works, and
buildings of every description, except those of artistic and pleasing
appearance. The principal streets, the Bund and the Nanking Road, run at
right angles to each other, and the chief thoroughfares run parallel to
these two. The Bund is broad, fronting the water, and is a popular
thoroughfare. The Nanking Road deserves special mention. It begins as a
narrow passage-way with foreign business houses on each side; it then
widens, and has Chinese shops, with, later on, the recreation ground,
Town Hall, and Library. Farther on it is known as Bubbling Well Road.

Shanghai, as a residence for the European, is said to be the finest city
in the East as regards modern conveniences, finer than any place east of
Suez, but it is a city of contrasts. No centre can offer a wider choice
for enjoyment,--the public recreation ground covering eight thousand
acres. Within this enclosure is the race course, where cricket,
football, hockey, tennis, golf, polo, and baseball are played; and
numberless pavilions, dressing-rooms, and a swimming-bath are included
in the adjacent building--all free to the public. There are in addition
many clubs of a private nature, some social and others musical, and many
of them owning fine buildings. Matters of education are not neglected,
and the public schools even include kindergartens. There are likewise
private schools, but the provisions for educating Chinese children are
very inadequate, and mostly of the mission order. The Roman Catholic
missions have excellent schools and well-equipped buildings. There is a
fine American College, St. John's, that grants degrees. Some
institutions are managed by the Chinese, the