p. 15 | Honan, China by O. A. Hall

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 23, 1911

Honan, China

By O. A. Hall

Recently Brother Esta Miller and I visited five of the out-stations. We left Thursday, and went by boat all day, sleeping on the boat that night. The next morning we hired a cart drawn by two mules. These carts are very rude concerns, and not the most comfortable to ride in. They have no springs, and are quite small, so when we got our baggage, lunch-baskets, beds, etc., packed in, there was not a great deal of room for us. Our team was not very satisfactory, but after driving all day we reached the first station. We found a place prepared for us in one end of the new chapel built last spring. We were soon supplied with hot water, which is always used in China in abundance. Our supper was eaten with relish, after which we held a meeting with the people who had gathered for the evening service; a large number also came for the purpose of seeing the yang kuei, or “foreign devils.” After the meeting we opened our folding cots, and prepared for the night. This station is fifteen li from the place where we planned to spend the Sabbath, so we got up quite early and started on our long day's journey.

Reaching the next station, we held two meetings in close succession, and ate our dinner, which consisted of food we had taken with us, and hot water given us by our Chinese brethren. We found here that our journey was not yet ended; for there was an urgent invitation to go on eight li farther to visit a company of new Sabbath-keepers. Here another meeting was held, and we were ready for our return trip of twenty li or over to the station from which we had started in the morning, at which place we had left our beds and lunch-baskets. You can imagine that we were ready for a night's rest after the long walk. The next morning we hired two wheelbarrows to take us and our baggage and evangelist on to the next station. Here we found it difficult to secure a cart to take us to the next station we had planned to visit, so we prepared to spend the night. During the night it began to rain. The next morning we succeeded in hiring a cart, and after two days' travel we were again at home.

We enjoyed the trip very much, and have a better idea of affairs in the province than before. At the homes of some of our people we had opportunity to partake of our first meal of genuine Chinese food. When an invitation is extended, it is impossible to escape, even though one may plead that he is not hungry. We found that their food tasted much better than we expected.

The Chinese inns at which one stops consist of a kitchen and dining-room at the front. When guests arrive in their cart, the front door is opened, and they are invited to drive in. They are then shown the room which they are to occupy, and their cart is backed into it. The donkeys are placed in one end of the room and they in the other. The room is furnished with a table and a bench, nothing more, except perhaps a mat or two on the floor, which is bare earth. Here they may spread their beds, and make themselves just as comfortable as they can.

O. A. HALL.