The living of the Chinese population, on the contrary, costs very little; 60 cash, 1,200 of which make a dollar (4s.), may be reckoned a very liberal daily allowance for each man.  As a natural consequence, wages are extremely low; a boat, for instance, may be hired for half a dollar (2s.) a-day, and on this income, a whole family of from six to eight persons will often exist.  It is true, the Chinese are not too particular in their food; they eat dogs, cats, mice, and rats, the intestines of birds, and the blood of every animal, and I was even assured that caterpillars and worms formed part of their diet.  Their principal dish, however, is rice, which is not only employed by them in the composition of their various dishes, but supplies the place of bread.  It is exceedingly cheap; the pekul, which is equal to 124 lbs.  English avoirdupois, costing from one dollar and three-quarters to two dollars and a half.

The costume of both sexes, among the lower orders, consists of broad trousers and long upper garments, and is remarkable for its excessive filth.  The Chinaman is an enemy of baths and washing; he wears no shirt, and does not discard his trousers until they actually fall off his body.  The men’s upper garments reach a little below the knee, and the women’s somewhat lower.  They are made of nankeen, or dark blue, brown, or black silk.  During the cold season, both men and women wear one summer-garment over the other, and keep the whole together with a girdle; during the great heat, however, they allow their garments to flutter unconstrained about their body.

All the men have their heads shaved, with the exception of a small patch at the back, the hair on which is carefully cultivated and plaited into a cue.  The thicker and longer this cue is, the prouder is its owner; false hair and black ribbon are consequently worked up in it, so that it often reaches down to the ankles.  During work, it is twisted round the neck, but, on the owner’s entering a room, it is let down again, as it would be against all the laws of etiquette and politeness for a person to make his appearance with his cue twisted up.  The women wear all their hair, which they comb entirely back off their forehead, and fasten it in most artistic plaits to the head; they spend a great deal of time in the process, but when their hair is once dressed, it does not require to be touched for a whole week.  Both men and women sometimes go about with no covering at all on their head; sometimes they wear hats made of thin bamboo, and very frequently three feet in diameter; these keep off both sun and rain, and are exceedingly durable.

On their feet they wear sewed stockings and shoes, formed of black silk, or some material like worsted; the soles, which are more than an inch thick, are made up of layers of strong pasteboard or felt pasted together.  The poor people go barefooted.

The houses of the lower classes are miserable hovels, built of wood or brick.  The internal arrangements are very wretched:  the whole furniture consists of a worthless table, a few chairs, and two or three bamboo-mats, stools for the head, and old counterpanes; yet, with this poverty, there are always sure to be some pots of flowers.