Life Outside Work

Abstract

Chapter 7 provides insights into individuals’ activities outside the busy periods of work. In Macau, besides dinners and a variety of social gatherings, the company of women was permitted; consequently, traders could install their families there, while others maintained mistresses or second families. In Canton, the international trading community hosted frequent dinners, receptions, and other social events at each other’s hongs, while invitations to dinner at the homes of hong merchants were particularly prized. Shops were also a source of excitement and fascination, both for the wide array of goods that they carried and for the nature of the shopping experience; additionally, the French made visits to artisans’ workshops and painters’ ateliers, and to the city walls and places beyond. Two of the most popular destinations for outings were reached by boat: Honam (河南) Island, just across the river from the hongs, and the Fati (or Fatee) Gardens (花地), above Canton.