VISITORS TO LANZHOU IN THE EARLY-MID 1900s

1914 - FRANK MEYER

Frank Nicholas Meyer (1875-1918) was an explorer for the United States Department of Agriculture. He went on several expeditions to Europe, Russia and East Asia collecting specimens (this lemon was named after him, for example).

He was in Lanzhou in December 1914, and took this photo of Zhongshan Bridge (the arches were added in 1954, see page 6): 

“Iron bridge over a ice choked river with buildings on the hills in the background”

The scene in 2009

Meyer noted that “the water from this river is drunk unfiltered and the waste of the city is deposited into this river again, thus making the people immune from intestinal diseases unless they should die before.”  

1925 - JOSEPH ROCK

Joseph Rock (1884-1962), explorer and botanist, is better known for his explorations in the Shangri-La area of Yunnan province. However, he passed through Lanzhou in 1925: 

“The American bridge across the Hwang Ho.”

The scene in 2009

Rock wrote in his diary "the Yellow River is not as broad as I had expected. The bridge, an American one, is also a smaller affair than I had anticipated. The China Inland Mission hospital is on the north bank of the Yellow River.... The Hospital is well located and commands a pleasant view over the Yellow River and Lan-chow." (August 20, 1925).

The China Inland Mission hospital was clearly the place to come to, if you were a foreigner traveling through Lanzhou. Also known as the Borden Memorial Hospital, it is now the Lanzhou No.2 Hospital.

The China Inland Mission hospital

The scene in 2009

Here are a few of Rock's other photos, taken from the Governor’s mansion (possibly now the People’s Government on Nan Binhe Lu?). Unfortunately, no trace of the city walls remains today. To see what the city looked like in the early 1900s, you should visit either the 8th Route Army Office or the City Museum, which both display scale models of the city, complete with city walls. 

Facing south, with Lanshan in the distance

Facing west, with the White Pagoda visible on the north side of the river

1933 - REV CLAUDE PICKENS

Rev. Claude Pickens (1900-1985) was a missionary with the China Inland Mission. In 1933, during a journey through China’s northwest, visiting Muslim communities, he passed through Lanzhou. The Pickens Collection on Muslims in China, held at Harvard University, displays hundreds of photos of his travels in the northwest, including several of his time in Lanzhou. This photo was taken from a vehicle crossing Zhongshan Bridge, facing south:

“Lanchow. 20 years ago this bridge carried on backs of camels from the coast”

The scene in 2009

While a few old city gates have at least lent their name to spots in Lanzhou (Guangwu Men, Shuangcheng Men, and Anding Men), there is no evidence whatsoever of the West Gate left in Lanzhou today:

The West Gate

CIM staff and Pickens (3rd from right)

1945-1947 and 1948-1951 – OTTO SCHOERNER

Otto Schoerner (1906-2008) was a missionary in Lanzhou during a momentous period in China's history: the Sino-Japanese war, the civil war, and the first year of the Communist rule. To read his fascinating autobiography, go to Schoerner.org. 

There is also a transcript available here of an interview with Schoerner in 1979. Here is an excerpt, in which he describes the journey from eastern China to Lanzhou in 1945:

“That journey was a long one because we had to go overland where there was no railway for I don't recall how many miles, five hundred miles perhaps it was. And my wife and I had a little cart; we had two children at that time. And we bicycled over mountains and over certain parts of central China in that day when we were young and strong, and the Lord wonderfully undertook for us. But there was always the fear in the mind of many people, and even in our own, that the Japanese would push westward. […] And we came to the railhead, the end of the railroad at Xian. […] And then by truck, three or four days on a truck […] to the city of Lanchow, which is in Kansu."

Schoener became the superintendent of the hospital, and experienced the Communist takeover of the city, just before Mao’s revolution was completed in 1949. This period was troubled for the foreign missionaries, who were accused of being American spies.  In 1951, at the start of the Korean War, the mission was evacuated.

Otto Schoerner and family in Lanzhou, 1951

PHOTO SOURCES:

Meyer’s photo of Zhongshan Bridge, and notes:
http://via.lib.harvard.edu/via/deliver/advancedsearch?_collection=via
Use the Quick Search box at the top of the page: enter “AAE-01462”

Rock’s photo of Zhongshan Bridge, and diary entry:
http://via.lib.harvard.edu/via/deliver/advancedsearch?_collection=via
Use the Quick Search box at the top of the page: enter “V-10973”

Rock’s photo facing south:
http://via.lib.harvard.edu/via/deliver/advancedsearch?_collection=via
Use the Quick Search box at the top of the page: enter “R-161”

Rock’s photo facing west:
http://via.lib.harvard.edu/via/deliver/advancedsearch?_collection=via
Use the Quick Search box at the top of the page: enter “R-160”

Rock’s photo of Borden Memorial Hospital:
http://via.lib.harvard.edu/via/deliver/advancedsearch?_collection=via
Use the Quick Search box at the top of the page: enter

Picken’s photo of Zhongshan Bridge:
http://via.lib.harvard.edu/via/deliver/advancedsearch?_collection=via
Use the Quick Search box at the top of the page: enter “CP01.71.02”

Photo of Pickens with the hospital staff:
http://via.lib.harvard.edu/via/deliver/advancedsearch?_collection=via
Use the Quick Search box at the top of the page: enter “CP01.18.03”

Picken’s photo of the West Gate:
http://via.lib.harvard.edu/via/deliver/advancedsearch?_collection=via
Use the Quick Search box at the top of the page: enter “CP01.17.04” 

Otto Schoerner and family:
http://www.schoerner.org/#Gansu

COPYRIGHT AND FAIR USE:
In showing these historical photographs for noncommercial and educational purposes, I have followed fair use guidelines.