Empire every Chinese living room has a brick
platform termed k’ang, built across one side.
These structures are about two feet high and
six feet wide. They are covered with straw
matting manufactured for the purpose. They
serve as a bedstead at night, and the family
sit, upon them during the day, à la Turk, and
take their meals from a small, low table placed
thereon. A large open kettle is set in the
bricks at one end, where the food is cooked.
The heat and smoke from the fire pass through
a flue in the platform into the chimney.
This arrangement makes a very warm and
comfortable bed in winter, but an extremely
hot and uncomfortable one in summer, as there
is no other outlet for the heat, and the stove
must be used whenever food is prepared.
The furniture of the homes of the poor consists of a table, chair, bench or two, a few cooking utensils, bowls, cups and chopsticks.
In such apartments, amid dampness, smoke and vermin, the most of the people live. Some-
