China: The picturesque village of Pu'er in Yunnan province surrounded by tiered rice paddies, drawn in 1867 by Louis Delaporte.

Delaporte produced a great number of drawings, sketches and watercolours during his two-year venture (1866-68) with the Mekong Exploration Commission sponsored by the French Ministry of the Navy, the intention of which was to lay the groundwork for the expansion of French colonies in Indochina. Traveling almost exclusively on the Mekong by boat, the small French delegation voyaged from Saigon to Phnom Penh to Luang Prabang, then farther north into the uncharted waters of Upper Laos and China's Yunnan province.

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Pictures From History