This is the left half of the panoramic image, thought to be the first ever such shot taken of Peking, as Beijing was then called(photo/Agencies)

This is the right half of the panoramic image, taken in 1860 when the gleaming skyscrapers the inhabitants of today's Beijing were still more than a century away(photo/Agencies)

This panorama, seen in its entirety, is 5ft 5in wide and 8in tall and was taken from Peking's South Gate looking towards the Forbidden City(photo/Agencies)

Old Imperial Summer Palace(photo/Agencies)

One of the gateway to the Great Llama Temple(photo/Agencies)

A tomb of an Empress of China in Peking(photo/Agencies)

left bastion of the captured South Taku Fort in Peh-Tang(photo/Agencies)

A collection of photographs of Beijing taken by photographer Felice Beato in 1860 was sold to a Chinese buyer for ￡218,500 at a Sotheby's auction in London Tuesday, May 14th.

These rare photographs taken more than 150 years ago are thought to be among the first ever pictures taken of China.

Showing Beijing in the days before sky-scrapers when it was still known as Peking, the photographs were taken by Anglo-Italian photographer Felice Beato and include the first ever panorama of the city.

The collection also includes the only known photograph of the old Imperial Summer Palace before it was destroyed by fire by British troops in 1860.

The set of 18 original albumen photographs were taken by Mr Beato, regarded as one of the first ever photojournalists, while he was embedded with the British Army in 1860.

Mr Beato had joined up with the army in India in 1857 to photograph the uprising in the country at the time before travelling on to China. He captured daily life with the troops, as well as landscapes and historical buildings around the country.

Thought to be the first ever photographer to visit Beijing, Mr Beato took a series of six shots from the South Gate looking towards the Forbidden City which became the first ever panorama of the city.