ime, Arcona had left the East Asia Squadron in February; her replacement, Nürnberg, arrived on 9 April. Ingenohl, by now promoted to Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral), departed on 6 June and was replaced by Konteradmiral Erich Gühler. The new squadron commander took Scharnhorst and Nürnberg on a tour of Germany's Pacific colonies, starting on 20 June. Stops included the Mariana Islands, Truk, and Apia in German Samoa. In the last port, the cruisers met the unprotected cruisers Cormoran and Condor, the station ships for the South Seas Station. While there, the new light cruiser Emden arrived on 22 July to further strengthen the East Asia Squadron.
In 1910, Scharnhorst won the Kaiser's Schießpreis (Shooting Prize) for excellent gunnery in the East Asia Squadron. On 25 November, Scharnhorst and the rest of the squadron went on a trip to Hong Kong and Nanjing; while in Hong Kong, an outbreak of typhus struck. Among those who were infected was Gühler, who succumbed to the disease on 21 January 1911. In the meantime, unrest had broken out in Ponape, which required the presence of Emden and Nürnberg. Scharnhorst instead went on a tour of Southeast Asian ports, including Saigon, Singapore, and Batavia. She then returned to Tsingtao by way of Hong Kong and Amoy, arriving on 1 March. There, Konteradmiral Günther von Krosigk was waiting to take command of the squadron. Two weeks later, the squadron was reinforced by the arrival of Scharnhorst's sister ship Gneisenau on 14 March. From 30 March to 12 May, Scharnhorst went on a cruise in Japanese waters with Krosigk aboard. She thereafter steamed to the northern area of the German protectorate in early July; at the time tensions were high in Europe due to the Agadir Crisis. Krosigk attempted to keep the situation calm in East Asia and he took his flagship on a tour of harbors in the Yellow Sea. By 15 September, the cruiser was back in Tsingtao.
After arriving in Tsingtao, Scharnhorst went into dock for her annual repair; Krosigk accordingly shifted his flag to Gneisenau temporarily. On 10 October, the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing Dynasty broke out, which caused a great deal of tension amongst the Europeans, who recalled the attacks on foreigners during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900–01. The rest of the East Asia Squadron was placed on alert to protect German interests and additional troops were sent to protect the German consulate. But the feared attacks on Europeans did not materialize and so the East Asia Squadron was not needed. By late November, Scharnhorst was back in service and Krosigk returned to the ship. She cruised to Shanghai by way of Tientsin and Yantai, arriving on 12 December. From 14 to 24 January 1912, Scharnhorst toured the ports of the central China coast and returned to Tsingtao on 9 March, where the rest of the squadron had assembled. On 13 April, the ships went on a month-long cruise to Japanese waters, returning to Tsingtao on 13 May. From 17 July to 4 September, Scharnhorst went on another tour of Japanese ports and during this period she also visited Vladivostok in Russia and several ports in the Yellow Sea.
On 30 July, the Meiji Emperor died; Scharnhorst escorted Leipzig, which carried Prince Heinrich, Wilhelm II's brother, to the Meiji Emperor's funeral and the coronation ceremony for the Taishō Emperor. The ships remained in Japan from 5 to 26 September. After returning to Tsingtao, Prince Heinrich conducted an inspection of the entire East Asia Squadron. On 4 December, Krosigk handed over command of the squadron to Konteradmiral Maximilian von Spee. On 27 December, Spee took Scharnhorst and Gneisenau on a tour of the southwest Pacific, including stops in Amoy, Singapore, and Batavia. The two cruisers reached Tsingtao on 2 March 1913. From 1 April to 7 May, Scharnhorst took Spee to Japan to meet the Taishō Emperor. Starting on 22 June, Spee began a tour of Germany's Pacific colonies aboard his flagship. The ship stopped in the Marianas, the Admiralty Islands, the Hermit Islands, Rabaul in Neupommern, and Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen in German New Guinea.
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