"For all the social changes in China can be traced to their early beginnings in the days when the new tools or vehicles of commerce and locomotion first brought the Chinese people into unavoidable contact with the strange ways and novel goods of the Western peoples"

The quote by Hu Shih recommends that the social changes seen in China can be credited to the intro of brand-new tools and methods of transport utilized in commerce, which brought the Chinese people into contact with the Western world. This exposure led to the exploration of different ways of believing and brand-new items, which ushered in social changes in China.