As someone who has spent a bit of time examining the Chinese presence--political, commercial, military--in Korean port cities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (read all about it here), I found this article to be interesting.
I don't recall that the Qing Empire sent many gunboats to Wônsan (they were a frequent sight in Inch'ôn) but steamships from the China Merchants Steamship Company visited the port from time to time and the small Chinese commercial community there did a thriving business that far exceeded what their numbers would warrant.
Now the Chinese navy is back. Plus ca change ....
On the other hand, this didn't happen back in the 19th century:
Members of the flotilla of navy ships of the Chinese People's Liberation Army headed by Vice Admiral Tian Zhong, commander of the North Sea Fleet of the Navy, laid a floral basket before the statue of President Kim Il Sung in the city of Wonsan in Kangwon Province of the DPRK.
They placed the floral basket in the name of the flotilla before the statue and paid high tribute to Kim Il Sung with deep reverence for him. -
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