Scouting and Guiding in mainland China
The Trinity Cathedral Church House and compound became the 1st Shanghai Baden-Powell Group's Headquarters for the next 30 years.
On April 12, 1912, a joint parade was held at the British Consulate Grounds in honor of Lt. General Sir Robert Baden-Powell, who inspected both Scout Associations during his visit to Shanghai.
It appears that Boys' Brigade had divested themselves of a Scouting program which was in keeping with some similar actions in Great Britain around that time.
[10] Soon after this memorable parade, nine senior boys left the 1st Baden-Powell Troop to continue or complete their education in England.
Millington, one of the earliest Warranted Scoutmasters in the world, took charge of the 1st Baden-Powell Scouts at the end of 1914 and on January 30, 1915, he and Rev.
On May 24, 1915, the fourth anniversary of the Troop, a telegram from HQ London, sanctioned the addition of all Public School Patrols, as a separate section of the 1st Baden-Powell.
This included members of other nationalities, and without having to leave the den at the Shanghai Municipal Council's "state of the art" school building.
In Shanghai, Scout troops for the Americans,[13] the French, the stateless Russians, and other Europeans, all got their start with the British Movement of the "International Settlement."
Prior to the establishment of other Associations, foreign Scouts were taking instructions and passing tests in English and wearing British uniforms and badges.
In regard to Chinese Scouts, they first started at Boone University in Wuchang in 1912, but began at Shanghai in 1913 with the help of resident bilingual British and American Scoutmasters.
This eventually comprised about thirty known Groups of one or more units of Wolf Cub Packs, Scout Troops or Rover Crews.
They were the latest Scouts to find safe haven in Shanghai but became restricted to a designated area by the Japanese military during the occupation.
They became very active after the war when other Groups were closing and those of all nationalities were emigrating to various parts of the world, while awaiting their own turn in 1948.
Until the Group closed there were active members in Shanghai, Australia, Austria, the United States and South America.
[17] In 1947 Patrol Leader Robert Knop gained the rank of King Scout and the Red All Round Cord.
[19] Patrol Leader Fritz Tausig took part in the 6th World Scout Jamboree as a member of the Austrian Contingent.
The Scouting District of Shanghai endured for over four decades, and proudly thrived under the authority of Lord Baden-Powell and the International Commissioners at Imperial Headquarters, London, starting with Hubert S. Martin in 1920–38, Richard Frost in 1938–43, and Glad Bincham in 1943–52.
These administrations preceded the universally recognized "British Groups Abroad" of the Scout Association, at Gilwell, in the United Kingdom.
Shanghai's vibrant Association of "British Scouts," whose members were actually mostly international, lasted through WW II.
He witnessed a remaining Pack of mature Wolf Cubs grow up into the small Catholic "Champagnat" Scout Troop, before he left China in July 1950.
[23] There were no longer any British members but he put these international boys as well as association flags into the trusted hands of Warranted Assistant Commissioner for Rovers, Emil Stembera, a Czechoslovakian.
This Acting Commissioner was obliged to disband them in November 1953 and did so at a solemn ceremony, reaffirming the "Scout Promise"in closing the Troop and Shanghai Branch.
The SAHK held five regional camps in mainland China in 2005: in Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai, Jilin and Inner Mongolia.
The Hong Kong Girl Guides Association has also established partnerships with youth and women organizations in mainland China.
It was still active in January 2004 with 40 local groups and more than 4,000 members of both genders, but its actual current status is unknown.
It borrows heavily from international Scouting in terms of its emblem, ideals, uniforms, and activities, and has organized frequent outdoor camps since its founding.
[45] In close connection to Scout Association of the People's Republic of China is the Team Delta Rovers (中国三角洲成人童军队).
[48][49] USA Girl Scouts Overseas in the People's Republic of China are serviced by way of USAGSO headquarters in New York City,[50] with troops in Beijing,[51] Guangzhou, Kunming, Nanjing, Shanghai,[52] Shekou, Tianjin and Zhuhai.
[58] The Scout Motto in Chinese is 准备, translating as Be Prepared (pronunciation may vary by spoken variant).
