Alexander Michie

Alexander Michie (1 March 1833 – 8 March 1902) was a Scottish writer, editor and businessperson active in British Hong Kong and Qing China. Known for his 1864 book recounting his experiences traveling overland from Peking to Saint Petersburg, Michie also wrote books about the British experience in China and the work of Christian missionaries in the country.

Early life and education

Michie was born on 1 March 1833 in Earlsferry, Fife to Alexander Michie, a weaver, and Ann Laing. Following the death of his father, Michie's mother remarried and had two more sons.

Educated at Kilconquhar School, Michie worked briefly as a bank assistant in Colinsburgh.

China

In 1853, Michie left Britain and traveled to Hong Kong where he worked for Lindsay and Co., merchants. In 1857, he became a partner in the business and its representative in Shanghai. He subsequently worked for other firms and, finally, Jardine Matheson, the largest of the trading companies (Hongs) in China. He also became the Chairman of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce and in 1862 was elected to the Shanghai Municipal Council which governed the Shanghai International Settlement.

In pursuit of commercial objectives, in 1859, Michie undertook a secret mission to cities on the Gulf of Pechihli coast in northern China, then barred to foreign visitors. In 1861, he accompanied Royal Navy Officer James Hope on an expedition up the Yangtze River to negotiate unsuccessfully for an end to the Taiping Rebellion. In 1863, Michie took a furlough and made the unusual choice to travel overland back to Britain through Russia on the Siberian Route. The journey took four months. His subsequent book, published in 1864, is his best known work and, he said, the first description of the whole journey from Peking to Saint Petersburg since John Bell's account published in 1763.