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The constant threat of invasion from nomadic peoples in the north resulted in China leading a fairly insular existence for hundreds of years. During the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), this isolation was further reinforced by policies introduced to restrict contact with

the outside world. These weren't relaxed until the 19th century, when China was finally opened up to foreign trade, investment and travellers, marking the beginning of a new era. An exhibition currently showing at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) explores the Society's historic collection of maps and photographs through perspectives of Chinese communities in Britain. Here, a selection of images taken from the exhibition capture China just as it was reopening its borders to the world

The walled town of Shaoxing, 175 kilometres southwest of Shanghai in Zhejiang province, 1930-39. The Use of walls to fortify villages, cities or even vast regions is a common feature of Chinese architecture that reflects its turbulent feudal past which has seen frequent invasions. Located on a flat, fertile plain that has been cultivated and irrigated for millennia, Shaoxing is served by a network of canals, and is one of the oldest cities in the province. The hills to the south of the city support a tea plantation that can be traced back to the seventh century

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Above left: Physic Street, Canton (Guangzhou), c. 1870. As its name suggests, Physic Street was where many of the city's apothecaries plied their trade. The author of this image, John Thompson, was one of the first photographers to travel to the Far East. Born in Edinburgh in 1837, he made several trips to Asia during his late 20s, before settling in Hong Kong in 1868. From this base, he spent the next four years photographing the people of China and recording Chinese culture. He travelled widely, visiting remote regions far inland, and many of those he encountered had never seen a Westerner or a camera before; Left: police in Hankou, Hubei, guarding British businesses, 1895. This photograph was captured by Victorian writer and explorer Isabella Bird-Bishop during her journey up the Yangtze and Han rivers. In her book The Yangtze River and Beyond, she noted that'a mixed force of Europeans, Sikhs, and Chinese preserves order and security in the settlement by day and night'

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Above: the Great Wall of China, 1907. This iconic shot was taken by photographer Herbert Ponting, who spent a decade travelling through Asia. Construction of walls along China's northern frontier ran from the fifth century BC until the 16th century. Known locally as Wan Li Changcheng--'Long Wall of 10,000 Li'(a li is a Chinese unit of distance equal to roughly 500 metres), it was built to keep out Mongol tribes, while also serving to bolster Ming sovereignty by restricting the movement of non-Han peoples to the north. At its peak, it was reputedly guarded by one million men, Left: Foochow Road (Fuzhou Lu), Shanghai, 1929. Originally a small fishing town, Shanghai attracted an influx of Westerners during the 19th century after the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, which gave foreigners trading and residency rights in a number of Chinese ports. Running west from the Bund, Foochow Road was renowned for its brothels and bookshops

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Above: Canton (Guangzhou), c. 1870. The earliest foreign traders to arrive in Guangzhou were Arabs during the seventh century, who introduced Islam to the country and exported porcelain to Kenya and Zanzibar. By the 14th century, the port had drawn so many foreign traders, exchanging everything from opium to silk, that the Ming emperor, Yongle, established a special quarter for them. Later, when China was closed to foreigners, Guangzhou remained open to trade, becoming China's main link to the outside world; Left: Kajgar Chinese women displaying bound feet, 1880-88. Many early European travellers expressed shock at the cultural practice of binding girls' feet at the age of six to prevent them from growing. But Isabella Bird-Bishop compared it to the Western convention of wearing corsets. 'As a set-off against the miseries of foot-binding is the extreme comfort of the Chinese women's dress in all classes, no corsets or waistbands, or constraints of any kind'

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Above: Chinese children, Xingjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the remote northwest of the country, 1878-82. All of these children are dressed in traditional Han Chinese robes, except the boy on the left, who appears to be wearing local dress. Bordered by Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia, the dry, mountainous, desert region of Xingjiang Uyghur accounts for about one sixth of China's area and was traditionally associated with the Turkic ethnic 'Uyghur' people--the largest ethnic group to be found there until the government introduced measures to colonise it with Han Chinese, the dominant ethnic group in China, accounting for 93 per cent of its population; Below: men hauling a ship up the Yangtze River, 1913. For many centuries, the only way to get large ships and junks upriver was to connect them to long bamboo cables and haul them against the fast-flowing river. This task was often performed by crews of 40 or 50 men called trackers until engines began to replace them. Thousands died cutting the precarious towpaths