Poppy fields, too, are numerous. The flowers are gloriously
beautiful. I often saw men gathering the opium in the early
morning. After the blossoms fall off, the pod is slit and the
whitish juice, oozing out, is carefully scraped off. High hills
rising to low mountains add beauty to the western part of Shantung,
while the more numerous trees scattered over the fields as
well as in the villages make extensive regions look like vast
parks.

The people are among the finest types of the Chinese,
tall, strong and, in many instances, of marked intellectual
power. To the Chinese, Shantung is the most sacred of the
provinces, for here were born the two mighty sages, Confucius
and Mencius.

Politically, the Province is divided into ten prefectures, each
under a prefectural magistrate, called a Chih-fu, and with a
capital which has the termination ``fu.'' I-chou-fu, for example,
is a prefectural city. Each fu is subdivided into ten districts
under a district magistrate or Chih-hsien, the capital, or
county seat as we should call it, having the termination ``hsien''
or ``hien'' as for example Wei-hsien. There are 108 of these
hsien cities. Between the fu and the hsien cities are a few chou
cities as Chining-chou. They are practically small fus, Chining-
chou having four hsiens under it. The magistrate is called a Chou-
kwan and is responsible directly to a Tao-tai who is an official
between the prefectural magistrate or Chih-fu and the Governor.
There are three Tao-tais in the province. At the
provincial capital are the treasurer or Fan-tai, the Nieh-tai or
judge, the Hueh-tai or commissioner of education and the salt