A Winter in North China

In the winter of 1890, the Reverend T. M. Morris and the Reverend Richard Glover spent five months journeying through the Shantung and Shansi provinces in north China. Commissioned by the Baptist Missionary Society to inspect the work of all missionaries in the area, the two clergymen travelled by boat, cart, wheelbarrow and ‘other strange conveyances’ in order to complete their mission. Published in 1892, this book compiles the letters sent home by Morris, originally appearing in The East Anglian Daily Times and the Freeman. Writing with notable Christian zeal, Morris ably describes the difficulties faced in such a journey, delighting at the people encountered and wondering at the awe-inspiring landscape. With a preface by Glover attesting to Morris’ ‘careful and shrewd’ observational skills, and a map of the area covered in this remarkable journey, this book provides a novel insight into nineteenth-century China.