Benjamin Couch “BC” Henry was a missionary in Hong Kong and southern China in the second half of the 19th century. Yet he was much more too – a keen observer, a skilled naturalist and an intrepid explorer. The bulk of his career in China was spent in what was then commonly known as “Ling-nam”, the Pearl River Delta and environs of Guangzhou. These excerpts of LING-NAM, published in 1886, contain one of the most detailed walking tours of Guangzhou that has survived. Similarly so his travels through the silk, tea and market garden regions adjoining the metropolis. Henry’s expeditions around Hainan Island in 1882 were then the most extensive undertaken by a foreigner. Henry’s travelogue provides one of the most in-depth looks at southern Chinese life – from the growth of Hong Kong, to the bustling streets of Guangzhou, to Hainan’s “Island of Palms”.