The photo shows Fuzhou School for the Blind band members who performed during the early 1910s. The University of Bristol maintains an online archive which contains historical photos of China. The Church Missionary Society Blind Boys' School was established in 1898 at Fuzhou which is located in southeastern China by Australian nurse and missionary Amy Oxley Wilkinson.
The school music ensembles began their first tours through Fujian province before they traveled to other parts of China and finally reached the UK according to the university.
Nun giving alms (Shanghai)
The photograph shows a Catholic nun in Shanghai who gives alms to a begging child during the time period between the late 1890s and early 1900s. The photo was taken “before or shortly after” the Boxer Rebellion which took place in 1900 when nationalists tried to overthrow Chinese imperial rule by expelling all foreigners from China.
The rebels attacked both Chinese and foreign Christians according to Encyclopedia Britannica. The revolt resulted in 100000 deaths according to the encyclopedia which states that most of the deceased were civilians who included thousands of Chinese Christians and approximately 200 to 250 foreign nationals who were mostly Christian missionaries.
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Palanquin and rickshaw (location unknown)
The 1870s photograph displays a man who is being transported on a palanquin which is also called a Chinese sedan chair by three individuals who carry him. The website chinaculture.org states that the palanquin has been used for transportation for 4000 years ago to carry noble people.
The site explains that “Generally, the number of carriers and the size of the sedan [chair] can indicate the status of the user.” Palaquins served as transport for high-ranking officials who required services from specially trained civil servants during ancient times, but today they serve a different function because they mainly transport brides during their wedding ceremonies.
Grant visits China (Tianjin)
Ulysses S. Grant, the general who led the Union forces to victory in the American Civil War, served two terms as president of the United States during the postwar years (from 1869 to 1877). Grant wanted to travel the world after he finished his presidential duties.
The former president and his wife reached Europe and the Mediterranean but planned to return home when the U.S. government requested his help as a goodwill ambassador for Asia. According to Humanities magazine, Grant “made a friend in Viceroy Li Hung-chang [pictured], whom he judged to be ‘probably the most intelligent and most advanced ruler—if not man—in China.
’” Richard M. Nixon became the first president to visit China after Grant left office because no former or current U.S. president had entered China before his trip in 1972 which occurred almost 100 years after Grant's departure.
Junks in the harbour (location unknown)
This photo from around 1880 shows a photographic process that used the albumen technique which photographers popularized during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Photographers would mix ammonium chloride or sodium chloride with egg whites and develop the photos using the mixture, leaving a glossy finish.
The Mariners' Museum and Park in Newport News, Virginia states that junks represent an ancient boat design which fisherman still use today because of their distinctive curved sails that bamboo bars reinforce.
Board game day (Shanghai)
The albumen print depicts a group of young men who are playing a board game during their time in Shanghai around the year 1880. Shanghai started as a fishing village before the British established it as a treaty port after their victory in the First Opium War during the year 1842.
The New York Times/Fodor's article describes how the city established its borders because British and French and American authorities operated their separate districts which functioned without Chinese legal control. Shanghai developed into a vibrant international trading hub which drew both foreign businesspeople and Chinese migrants from different regions of the country.
Mission children (Gansu)
The early 1900s photograph displays orphans situated at a Catholic mission which operated in Gansu province of north-central China. Gansu stands as one of China's most culturally and religiously diverse provinces according to the China Online Study Centre which operates as a website dedicated to Christianity in China.
The Gansu region contains one of the largest Buddhist monasteries in the country which has maintained a Christian presence throughout its history. The first missions established in Gansu during the 19th century. The study centre states that Chinese authorities now discourage all religious practices yet "since the 1980s churches have reopened and grown significantly."
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Tianjin?)
This photograph dates back to around 1911 and shows British soldiers who display an award which they received for their service in Tientsin. The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers were a regiment from Ireland (then entirely under British control) that arrived in Tientsin in 1909.
The military obligations in this period required only guard duty and parade duty and route march duty because soldiers had sufficient free time for athletic activities. The regiment was preparing to go to India when officials ordered them to return because Chinese soldiers had revolted.
