Gromit
/// Except the Cannons were Chinese. ///
Sheer speculation it would seem, and only for a time during and after WW1, other than that I can't seem to remember any Chinese being involved in the Crimea War.
/// All the Victorian Crosses presented so far have been made out of Gun Metal, taken from Russian Weapons seized during the Crimean War, although some speculation surrounds suggestions that during and immediately after the First World War, bronze from Chinese cannons was used for a short period. Firstly, Victoria Crosses were manufactured from bars of bronze, smelted from the parts of two Russian Bronze smooth bore guns captured during the Crimean War, but these ingots were destroyed during a bombing raid in World War 2. New metal was cut from another Russian gun caught at Sevastapol. This new metal is stored at the Royal Army Ordnance Corps Central Depot in Shropshire, UK. ///
http://www.angelfire.com/mt/uew/creation.htm