ABSTRACT
Pereira's eyewitness account derives from a visit to the Chinese interior and from his experiences on forced marches through several provinces in the years 1549-1552 as a prisoner of the Chinese. The capital city is named Beijing. People say that the imperial palace is filled with riches and artifacts and is encompassed by an arm of the very river that surrounds the city. The Chinese have a common saying to demonstrate the nobility of their country: it is that the emperor of China can build a bridge of ships from China to Melaka. The mandarins, indeed all the people of China, are prone to eat their meals sitting on chairs at high tables after our fashion. The Chinese possess universities and colleges, where they study philosophy, mathematics, astrology, liberal arts, law, medicine and theology, in all of which there are very erudite scholars. It is said in China that the Chinese have been using printing for over nine hundred years.
