All things old China - books, anecdotes, stories, podcasts, factoids & ramblings from the author Paul French

1936 – When all Waitresses in Peking had to be Registered Officially

Posted: October 18th, 2016 | No Comments »

In the days of still ridiculous levels of bureaucracy in Beijing, of the nasty Chengguan thugs spare a thought for the poor waitresses of Peking in 1936, forced to register…’decorum and good custom’ sounds a little like today’s cries of ‘civilised behaviour’ and the nonsensical like. Of course it all failed – just how many waitresses registered with the police is unclear and the whole system collapsed in early 1937 and, of course, was swept away the following July by the Japanese invasion. Those with a keen eye will of course notice that waiters were not required to register – seemingly, in 1936 at least, Peking waiters were above suspicion when it came to decorum!!

shamokin_news_dispatch_tue__jan_26__1937_



Leave a Reply