Fabulous voyagers! What histories
Are there behind your deep and distant stare!
Show us the treasures of your memories,
Those jewels and riches made of stars and air.
French poet Charles Baudelaire (1821-67) wrote these lines in his poem Le Voyage (The Journey in English) to express his admiration for those who had ventured far and seen things hiding well beyond the horizons of their own lives.
Baudelaire marveled at the stories told through travelers’ eyes.
In the late 19th century, several undaunted Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) explorers left their homeland to discover the Western world—a world of advanced technologies which posed a stark contrast to their familiar