Beggar in Shanghai 上海乞丐
Unlike China's other treaty ports the vast majority of Shanghai's residents were Chinese. As the city's population swelled, neighbourhoods with a predominantly Chinese character evolved throughout the foreign settlements. Here a beggar is seen soliciting contributions. Shanghai had more than its fair share of mendicants. Some were truly destitute; others belonged to gangs of professional beggars. At one stage, Shanghai had a beggar king who adjudicated disputes among the begging community.