Introduction

Eighteenth-century China had long been closed to the outside world，its inland areas even less well known to Westerners than the coastal regions.But on the inauguration of the sixtieth year of the Emperor Ch'ien-lung's reign（r.1736-1795），along with many other foreign guests，an American was invited to observe the celebration in Peking.Andreas Everaardus van Braam Houckgeest（1739-1801），the ambassador of the East India Company and later of the United States，thus had an opportunity to travel about two thousand miles across inland China.

During his journey in China，van Braam kept a detailed day-by-day diary in which he described the Chinese bureaucratic system，the everyday farm life，and technological inventions.These inventions were van Braam's favorite topic.He documented with illustrations agricultural instruments，transport vehicles，buildings，and bridges，as well as craftsmen at work.Van Braam's journey does not sound a total pleasure，but his journal is obviously a rich mine of information for present-day sinologists.[1](https://www.daowen.com)