Our course took us by way of Shanghai and we stopped there for just one busy day. In the morning Mr. Taft dedicated a Young Men’s Christian Association building which had just been constructed and to the cost of which a number of Chinese Mandarins, though not Christians, had made substantial contribution. The afternoon was devoted to shopping and to a most elaborate and picturesque reception and tea which was given for us by the Chinese guilds of the city. At this tea I was presented with a very curious and interesting bowl of Chinese silver which is among my most valued possessions. In the evening a great banquet was given by the leading citizens of Shanghai at the Astor Hotel, where provision was made for the ladies to hear the speaking from a platform erected at one end of the room. Mr. Taft made a speech on the subject of the relations of the United States to the development of China, which was long remembered as a succinct and forcible presentation of the policy of the United States toward that country, then in an interesting stage of its awakening from a long lethargy.