This book is the first annotated translation of the travelogues of Huang Maocai. A trained Chinese cartographer in the service of the imperial Qing state, he was officially deputed to ascertain the Tibet–India land route and the geopolitical status of British India in the nineteenth century. His travelogues are the first authoritative modern Chinese texts exploring the physical and ideological connections between China and India. Unpublished for a long time, and so far, unavailable in an English translation, these texts provide meaning to many key issues that enshroud the concepts of civilization and nation.

An important contribution to the study of Sino–Indian interactions, it demonstrates Huang Maocai's keen observation of the geopolitics of the region. His vivid descriptions of Kolkata and nearby regions enlighten the Chinese perception of colonial India. This book will be an indispensable resource for students and researchers of nation, nationalism, civilization, empire, frontiers and borders, modern history, translation studies, Chinese studies, and Asian studies.