A Chinese man pushing a laden wheel barrow across the bridge at Suzhou Creek.

A photograph of a Chinese man pushing a heavily laden single-wheel wooden wheel barrow across the bridge at Soochow Creek [also Suzhou or Wusong River], which was part of the post-1863 International Shanghai Settlement. To the right another man, with traditional Chinese 'queue' hairstyle with long pony tail, stands on the pavement, looking over the wrought iron railing next to a single mast of one of the boats in the creek below.

In the background [which is also depicted in N64416], the quayside is lined with elegant two storey Chinese warehouses built in brick and wood with tiled roofs, and gable ends with tiled tops that sweep up at the corners in the traditional Chinese style. A telegraph cable is suspended between tall poles along the tree lined road.

The original negative envelope was incorrectly labelled by a more recent hand: 'Loaded Cart. HK'. However, the reverse of the accompanying contact print is labelled: 'Yangtze Wheel barrow loaded.'

Object Details

ID: N64429
Type: Glass plate negative
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Jones, Kenneth Hurlstone
Date made: 1900
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: Overall: 82 mm x 102 mm