This letter was sent to the American Board Mission at the beginning of Reynolds’s work in China. She is thorough in her descriptions and, thanks to this letter, we see her initial reactions to foreign places like Hawaii, Japan, and, of course, China. Since this is written to the American Board, her tone is formal and descriptive. It is also interesting to note Reynolds’s descriptions of military-related objects and cares.

“My trip to the coast was very pleasant. I’ve seen nothing more beautiful than our own American scenery, since either. Mt. Shasta and Shasta Springs I shall never forget. 

I spent a very pleasant two days in Tacoma and Miss Russell met me in San Francisco Monday morning. October 24 next day at noon we went on board “The China” and in less than two hours were out of sight of land. ..

We had a delightful time on shipboard – there were 46 missionaries, only six returning, all the others new, all bright, wide-awake, jolly folks, and I had a fine…

… time all the way across.

One a.m. I didn’t move about much, for particular reasons, but otherwise I was comfortable all the way.

We had fine music, both vocal and instrumental, played flush, bit and shuffle board, told funny stories and had a good time generally.

I know of nothing except 100° in the shade, that is more conducive to laziness than a sea voyage. 

You don’t want to have to do anything; only as you feel like it. The sea was beautiful all the time, never very high but always changing. Nearly every evening I went up into the prow to watch the sunset and later to see the phosphorus.

We spent 24 hours at Honolulu. I was hard to believe that that picture city with its palm trees…

… and tropical verdure of all kinds really belonged to the U.S., tho the street-car line and electric lights “helped some” to make it seem natural.

We saw the building where old Queen Lill was imprisoned as well as her present residence.

We planned to visit the “Punch Bowl”, an extinct crater, for sunrise, but it rained. 

Japan was interesting too. It seemed like a play land. The people are so small and they live in such tiny houses and have such tiny shops. As a crowd of us went thru the streets about 30 lads followed us with interested curious faces.

We had our first rickshaw ride there. It’s lots of fun, but I think I wore a broad grin all…

… thru my first ride it seemed so queer to be bobbing along with the little Jap hauling me. 

We stopped at Yokahoma, went up to Tokio by rail and back, then stopped at Kobe and Nagasaki.

We reached Shanghai Nov. 18, left our big ship “China” and crept up the coast in a little German steamer “The Tsintau”. They were afraid of floating mines and often we did not move all night. There were Italians, Portuguese, English, and German on board besides me, and also some pigs each enclosed in a wicker basket which allowed all the squeals to escape and remind us of their presence.

The crew on the “China” were…

… Chinese and so they were on this boat and every place we stopped to put off cargo a crowd of coolies came out in boats to help.

They are the noisiest people you can imagine, all talk at once, as loud and fast as they can.

Thanksgiving Day we ate all sorts of German stews, – they weren’t bad at all, but we did want some Turkey.

Nov. 25th we reached Taku bar, not far from Tienjin but the tide was so low that not until Nov. 27th could we get ashore, and then a launch had to take us in.

On Nov. 28th Miss Russell and I took train for Peking and about 7 ocl. P.m. I saw the great wall and realized that my journey was ended…

… I am very pleasantly situated here. There are four dwelling houses in the American Board compound, beside the boys and girls school and the church. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ament, whose son is being educated in America, live in one house, Mr. and Mrs. Stelle, who have been married only the year, live in another, the single ladies live in another – where I take my meals – and the fourth is rented to a Mr. and Mrs. Swan, – English people, – he teaches in a Chinese college.

I have my room in this last mentioned house, and am here at this moment, at which some moment you are or should be each sleeping peacefully in your little bed.  Miss Miner, whose sister was in Carleton in 1900 and 1901, is principal…

… of the girls school called the Bridgeman school – Miss Chapin and Miss Reed teach there and Miss Payne who came out only last Sept. is still studying. Miss Russell works among the women, and what a lot of good she does. She is a sweet dainty little woman, yet she loves every ragged old woman and child with the love of a Christian heart, and it is beautiful to see the way they come to her. This is the week of prayer, and she is at a little country village living with them and teaching them.

When I see how busy they all are and how much good they are doing, it makes me wish I knew the language and could help. 

– All around the compound…

…there is a wall about 10 or more or less feet high. No Chinese houses are more than one story high, so all one can see is the outline of the bare trees against the sky. But you can hear these noisy Chinamen far into the night and early in the morning.

I have met all the people from the London Mission, Presbyterian and Methodist Mission as well as several Legation people. Maj. Conger I met just before he went to join his wife who is travelling in South China. They certainly make up in quality, these foreigners, – for so we must call Americans here, – for what they lack in numbers, they are delightful people. They are gifted, bright, courteous and kind and I feel it a real…

… privilege to live among them.

My work doesn’t move very fast now. The Chinese New Year comes soon, and they are loath to take up new work till after that time. I am studying Chinese some in my spare time. It is very interesting, but rather hard. You think you have it, but when you try to practice it on the Chinese they look at you as tho they doubted your sanity, and you know at one that you’ve made some awful mistake in tones.

Perhaps you meant to say “I don’t want” and you really said “I don’t bite.” I never know what what I have said.

I wish I could show you a street scene. So different from ours. 

People on foot, on donkeys, (tiny fellows with bells on them) in…

… Jinrickshaws, on camels, on scrawny horses and in carts. All joking along, all yelling, and nearly all dirty.

Perhaps you’ll meet a drove of pigs, black ones with bristling backs, next a donkey loaded down with wood. Then a funeral procession with all their gaudy paper banners and ornaments to be burned at the grave, maybe the red wedding chair next, etc.

If you are walking, beggars will accost you asking for money, perhaps get downs on their knees in front of you and bump their heads on the ground to excite your pity. Etc etc.

I have also ridden in a Chinese cart that is the respectable way to ride in China for only the very rich have closed carriages, no other kind are seen.

… Yes I did see an American trap one day. But this cart – it has absolutely no springs, – it is covered – and looks about like this [IMAGE] – there is a curtain in front and this is raised for you to crawl in and sit cross legged. Then the curtain is lowered, the carter takes his seat on the front porch speaks a few strange words to his mule and off you go. There are two tiny windows, but dear me! You’ve no time to see anything for you keep bobbing up and down all the time. Sometimes you stop, why, you find that the street is so narrow, you are shoved up in one corner waiting for another cart to get by, or perhaps you have to back into a gateway to get out of the road…

… In every house there are Chinese servants who receive something like a dollar or two a month for their services. You hear Chinese on all sides of you, until really there’s nothing but the sky at night that looks natural.

I am well happy and contented. There are lots of nice things about the Chinese, and I believe the time is coming when we may learn from them. They don’t all look alike to me as they did when I first came, and the little children are as cunning and come as pretty as can be.

Dec. 24th – they took for Chinese Christmas, had a tree in the church at 11 a.m., for the women and girls can’t go out after night. I helped decorate the tree and It was lots of fun.

They had a program, all in…

… Chinese. The cunning little people sang two songs, and the older ones did their part. All the little folks got candy – Chinese candy which is not like ours, but very good, I think, and the older children got each a towel and lead pencil – fancy an American lad of ten getting such a gift.

If any of you girls care to – you might make up a Christmas box for next year and send it to me. Pictures and scrap-books – the pictures to be of children, animals, houses and flowers, not men and women or grotesque things. Then pretty patch work pieces, cut ready to sew and pretty dark pieces of print about ¼ yd. for oversleeves for the girls.

It will need to be sent to Boston by the last of June. If any of you want to and will write me…

…right away I’ll send you the proper address.

Cheap towels and handkerchiefs can be used nicely too. This would be used for the country children. I have already seen some of the long finger nails. They certainly look uncanny. Saw one at least three inches long. Some have shields over them. Of course it is a sign that the owner need not labor.

My Chinese name is 任 Ren (?) pronounced as though you asked a question.”

– In another letter Miss Reynolds wrote while on board the little German steamer – “yesterday we were in port at Tsantaw, a German port, and saw the disabled warship, the Russian “Czarvitch”. They let us go on board her and it was almost…

… pitiful to see how badly used up she was. A great mast five feet in diameter swept off, – one funnel gone, the other full of holes, great stripes of sheet iron twisted and torn. The officer showed us a place where five officers were killed with one shot, and an admiral outside so mutilated they found only his two legs. x x We were only in English Shanghai and it looked a good deal like the Japanese cities, only the Chinese are larger and dirtier, – but the most picturesque thing about the city was the police. The English have found that the Chinese do not make good police so they imported a religious sect from India and as they stand about every two blocks with their huge bright turbans, their dusky faces and black beards, all dressed alike, they are very imposing indeed, especially since they are all large fine figures.”