e Irrawaddy, the Salween, the
Mekong, the Yangtse, the Yalung. The Anning, the smallest of these, lies
enclosed in a wilderness of tangled ranges, and its valley forms the
shortest trade route between Szechuan and the Indo-Chinese peninsula.
For about eight marches, north and south, it runs through a district
known as Chien-ch'ang, celebrated throughout China for its fertility and
the variety of its products. At the lower end the valley is very narrow,
and level ground is limited, but the gentle slopes on either side are
beautifully cultivated in tiny terraced fields. Farther north, however,
in the neighbourhood of Ning-yuean-fu, the valley widens out into a
broad, open plain. Apparently in this favoured region tropics and
temperate zone meet, for I never saw before such motley vegetation. Rice
and cotton alternate with wheat and maize and beans, while saffron and
indigo fit in anywhere. Fruits, too, of many kinds are abundant. A
short time ago the poppy made every turn brilliant, but to-day imperial
edicts, ruthlessly enforced, are saving the Chinese unwillingly from
themselves, and the poppy has disappeared from sight. In spite of
complaints it would seem as though the Chien-ch'ang farmers, better than
many in West China, could support the loss of that remunerative crop,
for their resources, properly exploited, seem almost exhaustless.
Mulberry trees are grown about every village and farmhouse, and the silk
export is of considerable value to the community.

But one of the most interesting products of this region has lost much of
its importance in late years. All over China, but especially in this
part of Szechuan, there grows a tree of the large-leaved privet species.
On the bark of the branches and twigs are discovered attached little
brown scales of the size and shape of a small pea. When opened in the
spring they are found to contain a swarming mass of minute insects.
Toward the end of April, the time when I passed through this region,
these scales were being carefully gathered and packed in small parcels,
and already the journey northward was beginning. Porters bearing loads
of about sixty pounds were hurrying up the valley, often travelling only
by night to save their precious burden from the burning sun's rays which
would cause too rapid development. Their destination was Chia-ting,
which lies on the Min River at the eastern edge of a great plain, the
home of the so-called "pai-la shu," or "white wax tree," a spe