There are only two extant copies of Reminiscences of Western Travels (????? Xi hai ji you cao), written by the first Chinese traveler to the United States in 1849. One is in private hands in China; the other is housed in the New York Public Library. There are significant differences between the two. The former was the source of the 1985 revised edition*, published in China, but this eBook is based on the latter. For further details, please see "Transcriber's Note, Part 2" and "A note about the author’s names and the book title's translation" at the end of this document. See also my online project.

There are uncommon characters in the Chinese transcription. If they do not appear on your screen, you will need to download and install a suitable font. Alternatively, you may refer to the photos of the original book's pages. Typographical errors in the American newspaper and periodical reports were not corrected.