Accordingly, "Gneisenau" was assigned to the German East Asia Squadron, where she joined her sister ship . The two cruisers formed the core of the squadron, which included several light cruisers. Over the next four years, "Gneisenau" patrolled Germany's colonial possessions in Asia and the Pacific Ocean. She also toured foreign ports to show the flag and monitored events in China during the Xinhai Revolution in 1911. Following the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, the East Asia Squadron, under the command of Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee, crossed the Pacific to the western coast of South America, stopping for "Gneisenau" and "Scharnhorst" to attack French Polynesia in the Bombardment of Papeete in September.