Post by nzbc on Jun 5, 2023 21:40:15 GMT 12
Jovial Spirits - Chinese Holiday Auckland Scenes
It was said just before Christmas and the New Year that business in the Chinese shops of Grey's Avenue Auckland, would be very poor. And, indeed, there was room for such an argument, for 1932, with Its manifold difficulties, bore heavily on Auckland's Asiatic population (says the Auckland "Weekly News"). There was a time, several years ago it was pointed out, when the Chinese area, almost a quarter, In Grey's Avenue, presented every sign of activity. But financial stringency affects the East, although it is transplanted In Auckland. Similarly, the holiday spirit, although it Is not comprehended in the Chinese mind as it is In the European, did not leave Grey's Avenue untouched.
Those interesting restaurants where long soup, fried rice and. the many chop sueys are consumed throbbed with a vigour which would have been usual in 1928 or 1929. Those Intriguing shops where stuffs for jellies are actually sold by length and mysterious preparations are offered in squat and lavishly decorated bowls won new patronage.
Unjustified Mysteries.
In the Chinese clubs dotted round the city, some of them profusely adorned with signs In the Cantonese script — a circumstance likely to create an air of mystery, not at all justified, in the mind of the seeking European — a jovial and holiday countenance was assumed by members and guests. There have been guests in the clubs.
For one thing, Chinese who worked industriously in remote districts throughout the year — laundrymen from country towns and gardeners from the province and outer suburbs— descended upon the Auckland Chinese district with obvious enthusiasm.
There were race meetings to engage their attention, opportunities to discuss with their city fellows Japan's intentions in Manchuria, and the delight of sampling the culinary conjuring’s of the city chefs. And, to a Chinese who had prepared his own rice and poultry for a year, there is a degree of relaxation in being able to command, even once in year, table service.
Pans Like Steel Helmets.
So, the cafes attracted many diners. The solemn men of the kitchens who cook rice in pans resembling nothing more than exaggerated steel helmets, who prepare pastry- with rolling-pins five feet long, and who offer quaint oils and sauces to spice their delicacies, were of first importance to the country visitors.
The spirit was reflected in the street appearance of Grey's Avenue. Chinese congregated in eagerly talking groups beneath the lofty and restful tree which favour the thoroughfare, enjoying to the utmost the coolness of Auckland's summer evenings. Their conversation? It was pleasantly; commonplace. There were discussions on the prospects of certain racehorses, reminiscences, perhaps, of the quality of the sow chow and the cha, liquors of excellence, in far-away Canton, and more serious speculations regarding the future of troubled China.
For the Cantonese remain very largely ardent Nationalists. The Nationalist Party, Kuo Mln Tang — It is pronounced Kwok Man Tong — extends to Auckland. It Is remembered that, on the occasion of Japan's warfare at Shanghai, influential members of the community promoted a new long, or society, to contest Japanese commerce, even as the trade affects the Chinese Hok Lun, as Auckland laurelled in Cantonese. The organisation survives. There is more than a suggestion that It will be active because of Japan's now offensive in the beloved province of Jehol.
Intrusion On Holiday Spirit
Such things are subjects for earnest debute, and It Is to be feared that the new turmoil is Intruding on the holiday thoughts of Chinese who came to Auckland for their annual enjoyment.
Yet other Interests have attracted them. When opportunity offered, the wandering visitor could listen to the music of the deservedly lauded Chinese fiddle of the golden notes. There was one evening recently when the instrument was heard in a shabby room within sight of the Town Hall. It was not intended for European ears, and, indeed, Europeans can scarcely appreciate the swift turns of tone of the fiddle. But the Chinese listeners forgot the shabbiness of the room and heard, with distinct appreciation, a ditty of Pel, the graceful dancer of Swatow.
Music wins the reverence of all Chinese. Not so the Japanese, an inquirer will be told. The Japanese were always disgracefully lacking in musical taste.
There remains, however, in Auckland a different music — the almost-chanted hymns of the odd little Chinese mission church where Cook Street plunges down to Freeman's Bay— which has its following. It is there that sermons are given in liquid, if rapid, Cantonese, and there where Europeans who have lived in China and understand some of many souls, occasionally so to recapture Eastern expression. It Is Europeanised, of course, but often the most rigid of European ritual does not obscure the essentials of Oriental emotions. Grey's Avenue rests on newly gained life and spirit to-day. But 1933 looms ahead with Its commercial perplexities In New Zealand and Its war clouds
In the East when problems wise in their numbers, as they always do perhaps the musical story of Pel and the happy conversations over chop suey mid chopsticks will serve as a sufficient diversion.
The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947) Friday 20 January 1933 p 4 Article trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/187221265?searchTerm=chinese%20restaurants%20auckland&searchLimits=
It was said just before Christmas and the New Year that business in the Chinese shops of Grey's Avenue Auckland, would be very poor. And, indeed, there was room for such an argument, for 1932, with Its manifold difficulties, bore heavily on Auckland's Asiatic population (says the Auckland "Weekly News"). There was a time, several years ago it was pointed out, when the Chinese area, almost a quarter, In Grey's Avenue, presented every sign of activity. But financial stringency affects the East, although it is transplanted In Auckland. Similarly, the holiday spirit, although it Is not comprehended in the Chinese mind as it is In the European, did not leave Grey's Avenue untouched.
Those interesting restaurants where long soup, fried rice and. the many chop sueys are consumed throbbed with a vigour which would have been usual in 1928 or 1929. Those Intriguing shops where stuffs for jellies are actually sold by length and mysterious preparations are offered in squat and lavishly decorated bowls won new patronage.
Unjustified Mysteries.
In the Chinese clubs dotted round the city, some of them profusely adorned with signs In the Cantonese script — a circumstance likely to create an air of mystery, not at all justified, in the mind of the seeking European — a jovial and holiday countenance was assumed by members and guests. There have been guests in the clubs.
For one thing, Chinese who worked industriously in remote districts throughout the year — laundrymen from country towns and gardeners from the province and outer suburbs— descended upon the Auckland Chinese district with obvious enthusiasm.
There were race meetings to engage their attention, opportunities to discuss with their city fellows Japan's intentions in Manchuria, and the delight of sampling the culinary conjuring’s of the city chefs. And, to a Chinese who had prepared his own rice and poultry for a year, there is a degree of relaxation in being able to command, even once in year, table service.
Pans Like Steel Helmets.
So, the cafes attracted many diners. The solemn men of the kitchens who cook rice in pans resembling nothing more than exaggerated steel helmets, who prepare pastry- with rolling-pins five feet long, and who offer quaint oils and sauces to spice their delicacies, were of first importance to the country visitors.
The spirit was reflected in the street appearance of Grey's Avenue. Chinese congregated in eagerly talking groups beneath the lofty and restful tree which favour the thoroughfare, enjoying to the utmost the coolness of Auckland's summer evenings. Their conversation? It was pleasantly; commonplace. There were discussions on the prospects of certain racehorses, reminiscences, perhaps, of the quality of the sow chow and the cha, liquors of excellence, in far-away Canton, and more serious speculations regarding the future of troubled China.
For the Cantonese remain very largely ardent Nationalists. The Nationalist Party, Kuo Mln Tang — It is pronounced Kwok Man Tong — extends to Auckland. It Is remembered that, on the occasion of Japan's warfare at Shanghai, influential members of the community promoted a new long, or society, to contest Japanese commerce, even as the trade affects the Chinese Hok Lun, as Auckland laurelled in Cantonese. The organisation survives. There is more than a suggestion that It will be active because of Japan's now offensive in the beloved province of Jehol.
Intrusion On Holiday Spirit
Such things are subjects for earnest debute, and It Is to be feared that the new turmoil is Intruding on the holiday thoughts of Chinese who came to Auckland for their annual enjoyment.
Yet other Interests have attracted them. When opportunity offered, the wandering visitor could listen to the music of the deservedly lauded Chinese fiddle of the golden notes. There was one evening recently when the instrument was heard in a shabby room within sight of the Town Hall. It was not intended for European ears, and, indeed, Europeans can scarcely appreciate the swift turns of tone of the fiddle. But the Chinese listeners forgot the shabbiness of the room and heard, with distinct appreciation, a ditty of Pel, the graceful dancer of Swatow.
Music wins the reverence of all Chinese. Not so the Japanese, an inquirer will be told. The Japanese were always disgracefully lacking in musical taste.
There remains, however, in Auckland a different music — the almost-chanted hymns of the odd little Chinese mission church where Cook Street plunges down to Freeman's Bay— which has its following. It is there that sermons are given in liquid, if rapid, Cantonese, and there where Europeans who have lived in China and understand some of many souls, occasionally so to recapture Eastern expression. It Is Europeanised, of course, but often the most rigid of European ritual does not obscure the essentials of Oriental emotions. Grey's Avenue rests on newly gained life and spirit to-day. But 1933 looms ahead with Its commercial perplexities In New Zealand and Its war clouds
In the East when problems wise in their numbers, as they always do perhaps the musical story of Pel and the happy conversations over chop suey mid chopsticks will serve as a sufficient diversion.
The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947) Friday 20 January 1933 p 4 Article trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/187221265?searchTerm=chinese%20restaurants%20auckland&searchLimits=