Here we had arranged to stay.

The inn was a large one, and very clean.

Many of its rooms were already occupied by a large party of Cantonese returning home after the Thibetan Fair with loads of opium.
The Cantonese, using the term in its broader sense as applied to the natives of the province of Kuangtung, are the Catalans of China.

They are as enterprising as the Scotch, adapt themselves as readily to circumstances, are enduring, canny, and successful; you meet them in the most distant parts of China.

They make wonderful pilgrimages on foot.
They have the reputation of being the most quick-witted of all Chinese.
Large numbers come to Tali during the Thibetan Fair, and in the opium season.