Chinese troops sporting cutting-edge uniforms in 1900 // Evacuation of the Qing imperial court from Beijing to Xi'an

Chinese soldiers in 1900 within the path of the image taken by using Arnold Savage-Landor. Arnold died over 70 years inside the beyond in 1924 so the picture is public area.

In the early hours of 15 August, simply as the overseas Legations had been being relieved, Empress Dowager Cixi, dressed in the padded blue cotton of a farm girl.

The Guangxu Emperor, and a small retinue climbed into 3 wooden ox carts and escaped from the city covered with rough blankets. Legend has it that the Empress Dowager then either ordered that the Guangxu Emperor's preferred concubine, Consort Zhen, be thrown down a nicely within the Forbidden city or tricked her into drowning herself.

The adventure become made all of the more arduous through the dearth of preparation, however the Empress Dowager insisted this turned into now not a retreat, instead a "tour of inspection." After weeks of journey, the party arrived in Xi'an in Shaanxi province, beyond shielding mountain passes wherein the foreigners couldn't reach, deep in chinese language Muslim territory and protected through the Gansu Braves.

The foreigners had no orders to pursue the Empress Dowager, so they decided to stay put.