Canton

a large city in China. The population of the city with its suburbs is estimated at 900,000. It is inclosed by brick walls twenty-five feet high and twenty feet thick, having a circuit of over six miles. There are a dozen gates. All close at night-fall, oriental fashion. The streets are straight, clean, and narrow. Goods are carried on bamboo frames, a man walking at each end. Common people walk; the aristocracy are carried in sedan chairs. There are many imposing temples, among others two lofty pagodas. The prevailing religion is Buddhism. The city is situated on the Pearl River about eighty miles from the sea. Wharves extend for several miles. A very great number of houseboats, as many as 20,000 or 30,000, crowd the river. It is thought that 200,000 people have no other home. Families live for generations in these floating dwellings. They catch a few fish, but make their living chiefly by conveying merchandise. Canton merchants are shrewd business men, noted for their honesty. The foreign business, chiefly with the United States and Great Britain, amounts to about $40,000,000 a year. European ships began to visit Canton by way of the Cape of Good Hope in 1517. See China; Shanghai