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brought in own friends and those displaced, however capable, had to go out to find jobs elsewhere. It made for loyalties on a personal as opposed to a national scale.
The Customs service, under foreign supervision, was the first to produce a cadre of permanent officials, and other government departments now set out to follow that example. Yet it should be remembered that relationships in China are still almost exclusively on a personal basis. If I have some business to transact, and if I know the right man, it will probably be easy to arrange; but if I do not know the right man, or have not got friends who can give me the proper introductions, then my business will almost certainly languish indefinitely. Personal relations are important anywhere in the world; in China they are more important than anywhere else.
It was, however, in communications that the greatest advances had been made by the new government. Railways were in course of construction under capable Chinese engineers, trained for the most part in the United States; and a network of roads began to spread in all directions, linking remote and backward country towns with the progressive markets on the coast. The telegraph achieved popularity, and the long-distance telephone. Broadcasting stations were erected at a number of places; over these news and views went out in a common dialect, which was compulsorily taught in the schools, and concurrently the simplification of the written style in the newspapers led to the spread of a language understood throughout the country. So in many directions the new developments worked to break down the old partitions.
A proportion of the national revenue had been spent in improving the amenities of the capital: wide thoroughfares were cut through the old native city: magnificent government offices rose here and there, topping happily the concrete styles of New York with the curved roofs of Cathay: the electricity supply was good: water was laid on. In the residential district elegant houses vied in diversity of design. The roads streamed with traffic, and the very latest in ferries carried trains across the Yangtze.
In the large treaty ports it was difficult for foreigners and Chinese to mix. Habits were too different. The Chinese like to drink with their meals; the foreigner likes to drink before he eats. The foods they
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brought in own friends and those displaced, however capable, had to go out to find jobs elsewhere. It made for loyalties on a personal as opposed to a national scale.
The Customs service, under foreign supervision, was the first to produce a cadre of permanent officials, and other government departments now set out to follow that example. Yet it should be remembered that relationships in China are still almost exclusively on a personal basis. If I have some business to transact, and if I know the right man, it will probably be easy to arrange; but if I do not know the right man, or have not got friends who can give me the proper introductions, then my business will almost certainly languish indefinitely. Personal relations are important anywhere in the world; in China they are more important than anywhere else.
It was, however, in communications that the greatest advances had been made by the new government. Railways were in course of construction under capable Chinese engineers, trained for the most part in the United States; and a network of roads began to spread in all directions, linking remote and backward country towns with the progressive markets on the coast. The telegraph achieved popularity. and the long-distance telephone. Broadcasting stations were erected at a number of places; over these news and views went out in a common dialect, which was compulsorily taught in the schools, and concurrently the simplification of the written style in the newspapers led to the spread of a language understood throughout the country. So in many directions the new developments worked to break down the old partitions.
A proportion of the national revenue had been spent in improving the amenities of the capital: wide thoroughfares were cut through the old native city: magnificent government offices rose here and there, topping happily the concrete styles of New York with the curved roofs of Cathay: the electricity supply was good: water was laid on, In the residential district elegant houses vied in diversity of design. The roads streamed with traffic, and the very latest in ferries carried trains across the Yangtze.
In the large treaty ports it was difficult for foreigners and Chinese to mix. Habits were too different. The Chinese like to drink with their meals; the foreigner likes to drink before he eats. The foods they
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