The country around Shanghai holds out few of the conventional inducements to the walker, but offers others which well compensate for the lack of them. There are no fingerposts to guide nor fences to obstruct one; no dusty stretches of road, but innumerably quiet streams. The only certainty is the unexpected, and what more, if the walking is good and the country people are amiable, can the good walker desire?

Riders and house-boaters explored and began mapping it half a century ago and their memories of the Far East will be inseparably connected with rural China rather than with crowded Shanghai streets. The author of "Shanghai Country Walks" has carried on the work in this varied selection of excursions into the Western country, which will appeal to all lovers of the open air. Comparatively few of us have tramped the country to any extent on foot; those who have are gainers in health and experience, but profit even more in acquiring some knowledge of Chinese life and customs and a better understanding of its people.

The remark too frequently heard - "Oh, Shanghai isn't China !" - may be true enough, but it does not apply to the country a few miles from the Settlement boundaries. Many of us have no opportunities frr travel in the interior of China, but we have at hand, with the aid of this little book, ready-made excursions into China and opportunities for observation that will take the sting out of the ancient taunt.

Is it safe? In the experience of the author and of many others of us who have been riding and walking in the country for years, its people are either uninterested in or friendly to the foreigner; one's attitude - whether inconsiderate or sympathetic - is usually reciprocated. The only confrmed antagonist of the foreigner is the Chinese wonk (dog), but his bark is worse than his bite and a walking stick will keep him at a safe distance.

So may these many attractive walks mapped out by Mr. Wilkinson inspire others to enjoy them and to go farther afield in search of new ones.

September, 1934
R.W.D.

A PROMENADE WITHOUT BAGGAGE

I must confess that in many years' walking I have never referred to my peregrinations, with or without a burden, by any name other than "a walk" and so, with the reader's permission, I will stick to that AngloSaxon word, whether our journey be short or long.

Not even the greatest optimist can claim that the Shanghai district is a happy hunting-ground for the lover of country walks, but in spite of the ever-encroaching builder, I can at least state that pleasant walks are to be found if the pedestrian is prepared to put up with a few of those little inconveniences which are, perhaps, given more prominence than they deserve. Take, for example, the Chinese method of raising crops - but I think I can better describe this by quoting the classic words of Jay Denby in his "Letters of a Shanghai Griffin "-

"I must inform you that their (the farmers') time is spent mainly the vocation of agriculture, the chief prodoctions therefrom being smells, graves, and rice, in the order named. China is the country of the small landholder, for land, being difficult to steal, is looked upon as the only really safe investment ..... the farmer who succeeds in making his land smell more abominably than his neighbour's is looked upon with respect, admiration, and envy hy the sorrounding population."

I must agree with Mr. Denby that there are smells. There are also dogs (locally known as "wonks"), narrow paths, much mud (at times) and a general flatness, all of which, when combined, are not conducive to enjoyable walking. But my reply to the detractors of our countryside is that the smells are only apparent among certain crops at certain times; that dogs may be to a great extent avoided by learning to avoid the villages; that narrow paths are quite convenient if you will learn to walk and talk in "Indian file"; and that there is a certain pleasing restfulness about flat country if you will try to cultivate the taste for it.

Before I describe some of the available walks and the country we shall see when we take them, may I first try the patience of the reader by enumerating a few things to be borne in mind when walking in Chinese country. For by encouraging people to use the country I am incurring some responsibility, not only to the few who are perhaps prone to regard it as their particular preserve, but to the Chinese peasants through whose actual property we shall be passing. Let me begin with a few "DON'TS."

DON'T go about in large and noisy parties which will attract too much attention. Small parties moving quickly do not attract crowds; they also avoid the probability of mild "rags" which may lead to unpleasantness.

DON'T do anything which may harm a farmer's crops or damage his property. He is a poor man and will naturally resent the very slightest interference with his struggle to gain a living from the land. For example, do nothing which might frighten goats or cattle, and keep off the crops.

DON'T carry firearms of any sort; they are unnecessary and will get you into trouble whatever happens.

DON'T throw stones at dogs if you can possibly avoid it. The population of China has a habit of popping up in unexpected places and if you hit someone by accident you are asking for trouble.

DON'T distribute money indiscriminately among children By doing so you are only helping to create beggars. It is quite possible to recognize country not frequented by thoughtless foreigners from the fact that the children do not come out and beg.

DON'T pay ridiculous prices for small services rendered: by paying too much you are only "spoiling the market" for others (including Chinese travellers) who cannot afford high prices; also you are only encouraging the greedy to become extortionate.

There are many other words of advice I would like to pour into the ear of the inexperienced traveller in the country, but I will spare the reader who already "knows the game" and get on with the main object of this article.

For our first walk, I will choose something that is not too far afield so that the main part of the trip can be followed on the map.

The best and most readily available map for the "near country" is the one supplied with the " North-China Daily News Hong List," and few people realize what a wonderfully accurate survey of the surrounding country it represents Unfortunately it does not go quite far enough for our purpose, but it will be good practice for the walker to include a little country which is "off the map" in this first walk, so that we may see how we can find our way by compass and descriptive directions.

The walk which I am now about to describe is about 18 miles long and will take you perhaps five hours (actual walking) at a steady pace. It is to a great extent instructive, as it goes round the perimeter of a lot of good walking country quite pleasant country to be found in the outer residential neighbourhood.

Time was when I could take this walk without seeing a foreign building, but even today it is pleasant and full of interest for those who have eyes to see. Who can walk round that temple in the Fah-wah village and not visualize the days when labour cost a few cash a day, and nothing but granite was good enough for paths and bridges? Today the little wooden street lamps are bland, and ugly concrete posts carry electric lights, but when a bridge falls down it is mended with wood, for the days of cheap granite are gone.

And who, seeing those little temples scattered through the country, can help thinking of the days gone by when some religious cult held sway over all the farmers? Today the farmer burns a little "joss-paper" at the corner of his field when the sowing is done, but his temple has fallen into disrepair, and there is no one to rebuild it. But the little wayside shrines which require no upkeep are still in use, and the stumps of many candles and joss-sticks prove that the gods of the Earth are not forgotten.

This dissertation on bygone days is taking us away from our main objective, and there are one or two matters I would now like to deal with which can be more legitimately introduced under the very convenient title given to these articles by the Editor. The "If" at the beginning of "If You Like to Go for Walks" may lead up to anything, and so I may quite well finish the sentence by adding you should learn something of the language of the country."

When I say this I trust the reader will not think I am suggesting he should become a Chinese scholar. Heaven forbid! Most of my friends who have taken up the study of Chinese after reaching a mature age have become more or less insane, and I would not ask my worst enemy to follow in their footsteps: but this need not prevent you from conversing in Chinese if you will follow my system.

This consists of learning a useful and comprehensive vocabulary and proceeding to use it in an intelligent manner, such as I will now explain. I may mention that I already speak several languages fluently in the same manner and have never yet gone short of anything I wanted.

Here is the necessary vocabulary for the complete mastery of Chinese

Shih Pu Yao

= = =

is not want

Hao Hsieb

= =

good thinks

The last of the above words is not really necessary, but is merely put in for swank." You will notice that I entirely omit the numerals from my vocabulary and you may perhaps think these are necessary for purposes of bargaining or counting: this is not the case, however, unless you happen to be shy of a few fingers; otherwise you have the decimal system literally at your finger-tips.

Now, apply your vocabulary. If you want to say "yes" you merely say "shih." If the answer is "no" you say "Pu shih." If you want anything you merely denote it by sign and say "yao," the negative being "pu yao." If you are agreeable to a suggestion made, or if you like a thing you say "hao" while the negative of same is "pu hao." A much finer distinction can he introduced if you say "good is good" ("hao shih hao") for this means "it is good enough, but not quite what I expected for the money!"

If you want to ask questions, no additional words are required, thus

	Isitso?	=	Sbib pu sbib?
	Do you agree? Do you like it?	= th=20> Hao"u hao?

But you can even do better than this to denote your actual feelings in certain cases. Taking ''shih" as ''yes" if you repeat it twice you mean "Certainly" while if yousay "shih" very heartily about four times you are virtually remarking, "Say, boy, you said a mouthful."

Further uses of this remarkable vocabulary must, of course, be left to the ingenuity of the reader, and I think that you will find it sufficient to discuss any known matter except, perhaps, Einstein's theory of Relativity. If you suffer from a bad memory the first four words are all you need but, as I indicated above, you can add a touch of swagger hy saying "Thanks" for services rendered. It generally goes better if you say it twice, quickly, while the number of "hsieh's" may be increased ad lib. to meet extreme cases of gratitude.

Finally, if you are short of light chatter in a tea-shop or village, it is always a good idea to display your watch to the youngest baby present and say, "Hao pu hao?" This always makes a hit with the mother, and is good for a cup of tea or a ferry across a creek. This method of approach, by the way, was originally invented by the Guards in Hyde Park, and has never been known to fail.

The last matter I want to deal with in this article is the question of what to carry in your pack when out for a day's walk, and this subject is worth a little thought.

Flask: A good big flask is advisable as you cannot get refills of clean water in the country.

Sandwiches: Brown bread is excellent if you are a hungry individual: but light food is best.

Apples: One or two apples are a good mainstay, especially if you are thirsty.

Clothing, etc. : A woollen jersey or "cardigan" to pull on when resting or driving home after the walk. It should be light and easily packed. Also take:

An extra pair of socks
Handkerchief
Light neckerchief, and a few sundries, such as
A pocket knife and small scissors
Safety pins and bandage
Adhesive plaster (for blisters or cuts)
Matches (extra box in pack)
Small money (silver and copper)
Name-card in Chinese
Cigarettes and/or tobacco

The great art in carrying baggage is to have everything of the lightest and you will find that all the above articles will go into a light rucksack and hardly he noticed after half an hour's walking. It is most irritating to cast a button or tear your clothes and find you haven't got a safety-pin, so I advise all walkers to think of these little details before starting. I fell into a creek last week and then found I hadn't brought an extra box of matches in the waterproof pack, so I know what I am talking about.

A FEW ADDITIONAL REMARKS ABOUT THE HILLS COUNTRY AND SUGGESTIONS AS TO HOW THAT COUNTRY MAY BE ENJOYED BY RIDERS, CYCLISTS AND WALKERS.

ONE of the charges which has frequently been made against Shanghai as a place of residence is that "you cannot get out of it "or " there is nowhere to go and spend the day." During recent years this state of affairs has, to a great extent, been remedied by the opening of motor roads and by more settled conditions which permit the houseboater to use the waterways quite freely. But comparatively few people have house-boats; and while motoring gives a pleasant change of scene, it does not give bodily exercise nor does it provide that pleasant feeling of adventure and complete change of surroundings which is afforded by a day's walk and picnic in the country. Then, again, many people get tired of walking in flat country and long for the sight of hills, however small; and thus it is that ever since foreigners settled in Shanghai the idea of an hour or so in hilly country has proved an undeniable attraction.

In the "good old days" before the Siccawei Creek silted up so as to make it impassable to all but the lightest and shallowest boats, it was quite a common practice to take a houseboat to Zo-se, to enjoy a bracing walk along the creek- bank and to spend a comfortable night in the quiet creeks beside the Hills before the return journey. Spurred on by the enjoyment of such trips it jbecame quite common for hardy walkers to attempt the whole journey on foot, while others did the same on bicycles in the days when that vehicle, now used only by the humble, was a popular means of transport. Then came the turn of pony riders and I have told elsewhere how a bold company of the S.V.C. Artillery set out at dawn to make the double journey in a day; how all but one fell out at various stages and how that single hardy Warrior made his triumphant return at about 2 p.m.

With the silting up of the Siccawei Creek and the consequent popularity of destinations further afield the Hills were almost forgotten and for many years none but a few enthusiasts (who said little or nothing about it) ever paid them a visit. Since I have no doubt that such a few did actually exist I can claim no particular originality for reviving public interest in the Hills, but the fact remains that lured on by a sight of the Hills from the top of a Bund buildig, I did set out to establish something of a record by making the return journey possible in the short hours of daylight afforded by a winter's day. To start not later than 8 a.m. and to return not later than 5 p.m. was my original object and I did actually make the return journey on more than one occasion in eight hours, including about half an hour for lunch on the Hills.

My method was to tie a bicycle into the dickey of my car; to leave the car beside the Aerodrome and take to the bicycle; to leave the bicycle at or near Si-king, wherever the paths might become unridable; to walk the balance of the journey and to pick up the vehicles on the return trip. In this manner it was actually practicable to have breakfast and tea in my house at reasonable hours with lunch between at the Hills; but I must confess that it was something of a rush, and not a little strenuous, having regard to the necessity to jump on and off a bicycle at bridges and ditches for a period of some hours, in addition to a fair share of plain walking.

All these experiences (which, by the way, took place before the recent dredging and re-opening of the Siccawei Creek) not only taught me to love the "Hills Country" but also filled me with a desire to learn more of it; to find short cuts and new paths and to follow those unknown trails to which high "ladder" bridges, glimpsed along creeks, seemed to beckon me.

Thus it was that, having acquired a copy of the old map prepared by the Siccawei Fathers, I proceeded to build upon it and organized my routes on the lines of bridges followed by the farmers. The Fathers' map itself was a challenge, for its title was "The Shortest Road to the Hills," and would it not be a triumph to find an even shorter route? But I soon realized that the Fathers took their walk from Siccawei to the Hills, so that the creek would obviously afford the shortest route, while I was now tackling the problem from another point of view. With the extension of the Hungjao Road as far as the Aerodrome and the general use of motor cars (not to mention buses) our starting point would obviously be the Aerodrome or the adjacent "Chinese Road," and so it was that the "Pointed Spire Route" and the "Northern Route" were evolved.

Then as my peregrinations extended I caught sight of another Pointed Spire to the northward which seemed to betoken new lands to be conquered, and later, having set my heart on a walk to the Northern Hill, linked this church up with the route to Po-ku-se.

Here then we have some sixty square miles of country as a playground and a glance at my very rough map will show how much of it is still unsurveyed. It is oniy a question for the ingenuity of the individual to decide how trips into this peaceful country-side should be made; the use of a pony or a bicycle or " Shanks's mare" (otherwise known as Walker's bus) are all possible, and I would like to give a few further hints on the use of either.

So far as the use of ponies is concerned, I notice that three riders under the guidance of Mr. E. F. Turner recently made the return trip to the hills in a day. I do not know the route followed but imagine this would be the Siccawei Creek and Si-king route, since that is best provided with strong stone bridges. Prospective riders may note that I have not mentioned, or given details of bridges between Chi-pao and Si-king, but all these are stone and quite safe to ride or lead a pony over. After Si-king it will be seen that six of the nine bridges mentioned are of stone, while three are of wood: some of the stone bridges have high steps and would be difficult to get a shy pony over, while the high "ladder" wooden bridges would undoubtediy give trouble. Mr. P. Chollot, who kindly lent me his own map of the Si-king route swam his pony on a lead past such bridges and I imagine that others could do the same: this would particularly apply at wooden bridge No.7, while it should be quite easy to make a detour at Ziang-se to get round the two smaller wooden bridges numbered together as No. 5: such a detour would follow the line of Sun Yat-sen Creek; going round the head of the blind creek and joining the main path on the other side of Ziang-ze.

If the Pointed Spire route were followed with a pony, all bridges should be quite passable, with the exception of a small wade just beyond the "Square Tower" where a small east-west creek (not marked on the map) is crossed by a plank at one place and a now rotten wooden bridge at another.

Speaking generally I would say that a steady pony, well-trained to bridges, wades and possible swims, should be employed, but that the Si-king-Zo-se portion of the journey should not be attempted in the late autumn when the ricecountry is likely to be flooded. The northern route would offer difficulties for a pony at wooden bridges Nos. 5, 8, 11 and '3 hut the last of these could be eliminated by crossing over to the southern (Si-king) route at Sun Yat-sen School and proceeding round the end of the Blind Creek towards No.6 stone bridge. As stated in the introduction to Walk No.8, the problem of riding to Po-ku-se has now been entirely changed by the bridging of all creeks for the purposes of the future motor road; this is now a fairly easy ride if you stick to the road, and has already been done by one or two keen horsemen.

To proceed with the aid of a bicycle is possible by any route since the machine can be carried over the most frail bridges. At the same time cycling has its difficulties on narrow paths and it should only be attempted in good weather when the country is dry. Anyone could cycle as far as Si-king beside the Siccawei Creek and find it a very pleasant outing, hut the mounting and dismounting along the narrower paths through the rice country, where irrigation ditches are cut every few yards, is a wearisome business.

When using a bicycle for quick trips I generally leave the machine in a tea-shop or farmhouse when the more difficult country is reached and give the owners (or sometimes, more tactfully, their children) twenty cents on my return. Should any of my readers decide to take a long trip by bicycle through unknown paths I would advise them to practise quick mounting and dismounting, not to mention balancing in narrow places) in the near country first for it is not pleasant to fall and sprain an ankle or knee some miles from home. Also please remember to put the saddle as low as possible so that the feet are near the ground in case of a sudden emergency.

In Walk No.4 I gave details of how a Chinese passenger boat may be employed for a combined walking and boating trip to the hills and I believe that much pleasure could be had from trips in such boats if anyone cared to cultivate their use.

I have already stated that the recent dredging of the Siccawei Creek has re-opened this waterway to passenger boats at almost any time. The larger motor boats would probably not be available for private parties of European passengers, but I have no doubt it is still possible to obtain the use of one of the small and narrow Shaoshing passenger boats for private use. Some of these now have small motors fitted, but they will doubtless cost more than the $9 per day which I used to pay: personal inquiries through a Chinese messenger at Siccawei will be the only reliable way to ascertain the actual facts from time to time. I can, however, strongly recommend these boats for speed and comfort.

In the Introduction to this book I have dealt with the obvious roughness of the Hills Country map, and I need not point Out to readers the large blank spaces which are available for exploration and discovery. Many walks could be planned across the map, joining up one route with another and opening up new walking country. I have myself cut across country about half a mile beyond the "Grand Pont" and, by using two regular ferries at farmhouses, came out just east of No.3 stone bridge (Si-king-Zo-se route) without going anywhere near Si-king. I have not, however, introduced any such "cuts" into the map as all my routes are planned to avoid the use of ferries. To the walker who is fond of "exploration" many such jaunts are possible and all journeys through unknown country have a fascination of their own.

And now as my task is finished, and I write these closing lines, I have visions of a Shanghai resident five or ten years hence driving his car along a new road to the Hills and wondering who the eccentric writer was who plotted out devious routes and numbered insighilicant wooden bridges.

But I, in my turn, feel no envy of such a man, for I have savoured the exhilaration of physical accomplishment and no motor-road can replace for me the joys of tracing out a path through the open country.