Local Time in Shanji, China

Local Vibe

The Qing dynasty held its first set of provincial assembly elections from February to June 1909. Following a lengthy period of political turmoil which included the failure of the 1898 Hundred Days' Reform and the 1899–1901 Boxer Rebellion, the constitutionalist movement gained approval from the imperial court and Empress Dowager Cixi. Seeing local self-governance as a first step towards constitutionalism, in 1907 the Qing Government approved the creation of provincial assemblies. The following year, an indirect election system was outlined to fill these assemblies. They were held in 21 of the country's 22 provinces; Xinjiang elections were postponed due to low rates of literacy in Chinese. Suffrage and candidacy was limited to a small population of wealthy men, most of whom were members of the scholar-gentry. Public attitudes towards the elections were generally apathetic, and corruption, fraud, and vote buying were common across the country. Turnout greatly varied between provinces and regions, but was generally low.