The series New Frontiers, produced by China’s English Language television channel CCTV9 in 2009, gives an insight into the contributions of the Chinese to the Allied effort during the Great War.
Field Marshal Dir Douglas Haig requested that over twenty thousand labourers be recruited in 1916, although at that time China was not involved in the war effort. Chinese were then recruited as non-military personnel in a scheme pioneered by the French government. Fifty thousand Chinese labourers were intiially sent to Marseille in July 1916. These workers became known as the Chinese Labour Corps. Most of the Corps came from Shandong Province.
To visit the CCTV9 website and select a part of the series to stream online, look here. To find out more about the Chinese contribution to World War One, look here.
Images courtesy CCTV9 website.