The Nonchalant Canton Merchant

The Nonchalant Canton Merchant

"Frequently on entering a Canton shop you will find its owner with a book in one hand and pipe or fan in the other, and wholly absorbed in his studies Yon will be doomed to disappointment ii you expect the smoker to start up at once, all smiles and blandness, rubbing his hands together as he makes a shrewd guess as to what he is likely to take out of you, and receiving you with obsequiousness or with rudeness accordingly. Quite the reverse. Your presence is apparently unnoticed unless you happen to lift anything; then you hear that the fan has been arrested, and feel that a keen eye is bent on your movements all the while. But it is not until you inquire for some article that the gentleman, now certain that you mean to trade, will rise without bustle from his seat, show you his goods, or state the price he means to sell at- with a polite yet careless air, which plainly says: 'If it suits you, we make an exchange.' From "Through China with a camera."