A collection of photographs recording German presence in China and Japan in the years 1908 – 1914.

Decades before WWI Germany competed with other industrialised nations to acquire colonies and create "spheres of influence" in the non-European areas, interfering in the Chinese domestic affairs.
In the wake that followed the murder of two German missionaries in 1898 Chinese government agreed to lease the territory of Tsingtao to Germany as a colony for the period of 99 years in order to appease the German government. Consequently, the Germans began to assert their influence across the rest of the province of Shandong. They built the city and port of Tsingtao, which became the base of the German Navy's East Asia Squadron that operated in support of German territories in the Pacific.

When the WWI erupted in summer 1914 Japan issued an ultimatum ordering the German government to withdraw their warships from Chinese and Japanese waters and transfer control over Tsingtao to Japan. When the ultimatum expired Japan began a bombardment of the port on 2 September 1914. Britain, wary of Japanese intentions in the region, decided to send troops to assist the Japanese and to keep a watchful eye upon proceedings. The Germany garrison held out for over two months before finally surrendering on 7 November 1914 and handing over the port three days later. The surrender of Tsingtao marked the end of the Germans in China and was a great morale booster to the Japanese.

Several photographs show SS Patricia, a passenger liner built in 1899 in Germany for the Hamburg-America Packet Steamship Company. In 1914 during WWI she was chartered to the German Government who used it as a troop transport to Tsingtao.

102 photographs (size range from 8 x 6 cm to 11 x 16 cm), including 2 with stamps of Lai Chong studio on reverse, some inscribed in German; margins chipped, some with creases, several images faded.