The houses, I observed, are three, and sometimes four stories high, with balconies and windows, which give them a decidedly Oriental appearance.  On most of them were signs displayed in the Chinese language.  You also see scrolls by the doors of the private houses and on the shops.  The signs are a study in their bright colours and their mythological and fantastic adornments.  Yellow is the predominant colour, and the dragon is in evidence everywhere.  This emblem of the Celestial Empire is represented in gorgeous array and with a profusion of ornament.  A splendid dragon is the sign and trade mark of “Sing Fat and Co.,” who keep a Chinese and Japanese Bazaar on Dupont Street.  On their card they give this warning, “Beware of firms infringing on our name;” and it seems as if the dragon on the sign would avenge any invasion of their rights.  The signs are a study, and if you are ignorant of the language, you ask your learned guide to interpret them for you.  He will tell you that Hop Wo does business here as a grocer, that Shun Wo is the butcher, that Shan Tong is the tea-merchant, that Tin Yuk is the apothecary, and that Wo-Ki sells bric-a-brac.  Some of the signs, your guide will tell you, are not the real names of the men who do business, that they are only mottoes.  Wung Wo Shang indicates to you that perpetual concord begets wealth, Hip Wo speaks to you of brotherly love and harmony, Tin Yuk means a jewel from Heaven, Wa Yun is the fountain of flowers, while Man Li suggests thousands of profits.  Other of the signs relate to the muse.  They do not at all reveal the business carried on within.  The butcher, for example, has over his shop such elegant phrases as Great Concord, Constant Faith, Abounding Virtue.  There are many pawn-brokers who ply their vocation assiduously.  They tell you of their honest purpose after this fashion:  “Let each have his due pawn-brokers,” and, “Honest profit pawn-brokers.”  In the Chinese restaurant, to which we will go later, you will be edified by such sentiments as these,—­The Almond-Flower Chamber, Chamber of the Odours of Distant Lands, Garden of the Golden Valley, Fragrant Tea-Chamber.  The apothecary induces you to enter his store with inviting signs of this character:  Benevolence and Longevity Hall, Hall of Everlasting Spring, Hall of Joyful Relief, Hall for Multiplying Years.  Surely if the American druggist would exhibit such sentences as these over his shop he would never suffer for want of customers.  All are in pursuit of length of years and health; and I think the Chinese pharmacist shows his great wisdom in offering to all who are suffering from the ills to which flesh is heir a panacea for their ailments.  It takes the fancy, it is a pleasing conceit for the mind, and the mere thought that you are entering Longevity Hall gives you fresh courage!