I had somehow overlooked this odd nugget in my various Google searches about Republican-era Xinjiang: In 1969, Life Magazine published a lengthy article about Sino-Soviet relations, which included a section on the history of Sino-Soviet rivalry in Xinjiang. One of the pictures on page 35 of the issue is a shot of a parade of armored cars in Urumqi that was reportedly taken in 1941, which I've never seen reproduced anywhere else. (A GoogleBooks link to the specific page is below.) A check of the photo credits on page 3 of the issue appears to indicate that the picture is taken from Sheng Shicai's personal archive, and "copied by Lawrence K. Chang." (I can't find that Mr. Chang had any other connection to Life Magazine other than making this picture and another one from Sheng's collection available to the magazine, so I'd be curious to know how he came to provide the pictures.) The photo isn't that exciting, but it is the only picture that I've seen that actually provides some sense of scale for what I believe are the Urumqi city walls.
https://books.google.com/books?id=1FIEA ... in&f=false
Photo of Armored Cars in Urumqi
Re: Photo of Armored Cars in Urumqi
Good morning Stephen,
Interesting pictures........
Ref the map next to "From the Pamirs to the Pacific: 4,000 miles" showing the Manchurian section with the "...claim by China"...... Less Sakalin Island, this is one of the "Unequal Treaties"; Aigun Treaty of 1858 ceeding the area to the Czar.
The pulp issue of this magazine is definitely a collector's item.
My day's off to a good start due to these pictures !
Warm regards,
Bob
Interesting pictures........
Ref the map next to "From the Pamirs to the Pacific: 4,000 miles" showing the Manchurian section with the "...claim by China"...... Less Sakalin Island, this is one of the "Unequal Treaties"; Aigun Treaty of 1858 ceeding the area to the Czar.
The pulp issue of this magazine is definitely a collector's item.
My day's off to a good start due to these pictures !
Warm regards,
Bob