From Chung-king I had stuck to the regular stages. I had done no
hustling, but I decided to rush it to Chao-t'ong if I could, as the
reports I heard about being overtaken by the rains in Yuen-nan were
rather disquieting. I had taken to Sui-fu three times as long as the
regular mail time, the service of which is excellent. Chung-king has no
less than six local deliveries daily, thus eliminating delays after the
delivery of the mails, and a daily service to the coast has also been
established. A fast overland service to Wan Hsien now exists, by which
the coast mails are transmitted between that port and Chung-king in the
hitherto unheard-of time of two days--a traveler considers himself
fortunate if he covers the same distance in eight days. There are fast
daily services to Luchow (380 li distant) in one day, Sui-fu (655 li) in
two days, Hochow (180 li) in one night, and Chen-tu (1,020 li) in three
days. It is creditable to the Chinese Imperial Post Office that a letter
posted at Sui-fu will be delivered in Great Britain in a month's time.
It was a dull, chilly morning that I left Sui-fu, leading my little
procession through the city on my way to Anpien, which was to be reached
before sundown.
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