The landed gentry and the great junk owners have their town houses here.

The money distributed by the townspeople in private charity is unusually great even for a Chinese city.

Its most public-spirited citizen is Ch'en, one of the merchant princes of China whose transactions are confined exclusively to the products of his own country.

Starting life with an income of one hundred taels, bequeathed him by his father, Ch'en has now agents all over the empire, and mercantile dealings which are believed to yield him a clear annual income of a quarter of a million taels.

His probity is a by-word; his benefactions have enriched the province.