Hi Kommando_J certainly the two figures at either end are regulars , the tunics they wear are similar to those in a photograph of a soldier taken on his way Korea in 1894 . With regards to the long sticks I will assume the are for crowd control!, I may have that wrong. It is likely this rather unusual grouping are a provincial Mandarins escort.
The photograph was taken in Fuzhou by a Spanish descent Italian businessman.
Cheers
Shipka aka Geoff C