Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Bayan tsayawa a Shanghai, Gordon ya ziyarci ƙauyukan kasar Sin kuma ya firgita da irin zaluncin da Taipings suka yi wa manoma na gida, ya rubuta wa iyalinsa cewa zai so ya murkushe wannan rundunar "mai zalunci" tare da "wancan halin da ake ciki" wanda ya kashe ba tare da jinƙai ba. Ya isa Tianjin a watan Satumbar 1860. Ya kasance a lokacin da aka kama Peking da kuma lalata fadar Summer. Gordon ya yarda da Lord Elgin cewa bayan da hukumomin kasar Sin suka kashe wasu jami'an Birtaniya da Faransa da ke tafiya a karkashin tutar fari don yin shawarwari cewa an ba da umurni, amma ya kira ƙonewa na Summer Palace "kamar ɓarna" kuma ya sanar da 'yar'uwarsa a cikin wasika "ya sa zuciyar mutum ta yi zafi" don ƙone shi. Sojojin Anglo-Faransa sun kasance a arewacin China har zuwa watan Afrilun 1862, sannan a karkashin Janar Charles William Dunbar Staveley, suka koma Shanghai don kare mazaunin Turai daga 'yan tawayen Taiping
sojojin kasar.