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A Visit to Northern China

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 7, 1907

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 84, No. 10.

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A Visit to Northern China

By H. W. Miller

We have met with some delay in securing the title for our land. This necessitated my going to Peking for legal counsel. However, we hope to be able to do printing, and live in a part of the building, before next spring. Had it not been for the delay, we should probably have had the building erected by this time.
This trip to Peking gave me an opportunity to see the northern part of China, and the vast field there lying unworked. In fact, Honan has 7,500,000 people north of the Yellow River, without a single worker. More people are in this small area than in the continent of Australia. Chili is also a very thickly populated province, with several very large inland cities, the territory being largely a plain. I find that we were understood fully as well as in our own province. I stayed with a Dr. Lowry, a Methodist missionary, who has spent his life in the place, having been born there, and from him I learned many interesting facts about that city and the northern portions of China, including Manchuria.
About one half the population of Peking are Manchurians. Their language is the pure Mandarin. The great port for north China is Tien-tsin, which is only three-hours' ride on the train from Peking, and which is to the province of Chili what Hankow is to Honan. We earnestly hope that our message may soon enter this vast territory.
To-day (December 2) Misses Erickson and Simpson left us for America. They stayed with us but two days, being anxious to reach Shanghai early. We trust, however, that their stay will not be permanent, but that they will return, when sufficiently recuperated, to some part of this vast field. However, our force of workers has not decreased, for only ten days ago I met at Shanghai my brother and Mr. Orvie Gibson, who are now here, and of the best courage, spending their time principally on language work; they will be of great help to us just at this time, with the establishment of our printing work. It was a great pleasure to meet them. The language will doubtless come much easier to them now than later, as well as learning the habits and customs of the people.
H. W. MILLER.