Probably no one has ever looked at these photos at the French Diplomatic Archive, because a) they are mislabeled; b) the search algorithm is clunky. So it was quite exciting to find the images of the Russian cruiser Ascold (Askold; "Аскольд"), which arrived in Shanghai in August 1904, having sailed from Port Arthur after sustaining damage in the Russo-Japanese War. While the ship was being repaired, several hundred Russians that arrived on it – military and civilian refugees – camped out in Shanghai, forming the first ever Russian community here, at least for a couple of years.
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