1930s China through American eyes

On a Peiping street

Very typical of Peiping (Beijing) is this scene. Just a few minutes' ride in a rickshaw has transported us to this native section where no automobiles may traverse, because there is no room for them on this narrow street. Strange and mysterious to our occidental eyes are the weird shops we see and the Chinese signs. Stranger still are the queer foods that can be purchased on this street, food quite beyond the comprehension of Western cooks. In the foreground at the left is a meat market where the chickens are sold already cooked, and each fowl is painted a different color, red, green, blue or any other color to suit the customer.

[Photo provided to China Daily/Keystone View Company]