In the West a day is divided into twenty-four hours, and each hour into sixty minutes, but in China it has been for centuries the custom to divide day and night into twelve (shih) "periods" of two hours each, so that an appointment is not made for a particular minute, as in America, but for one or other of these two-hour periods.

This has created ingrained habits of unpunctuality which clocks and watches and contact with foreigners are slow to remove.

The time-keeping railway is, however, working a revolution, especially in places where there is only one train a day, and a man who misses that has to wait for the morrow before he can resume his journey.
Some years ago a luncheon--"tiffin" we call it in China--was given in my honor at a Peking restaurant by a couple of friends; the hour was fixed at noon sharp.

I arrived on the stroke of twelve, but found that not only were none of the guests there, but that even the hosts themselves were absent.

As I had several engagements I did not wait, but I ordered a few dishes and ate what I required.