"1853 he left England to join Lindsay and Co., merchants, at Hong-Kong. Encouraged to depend largely on his own judgment in his work for the firm, he was allowed by tradition to trade independently and for his own profit. Michie made rapid progress, and in 1857 became a partner of his firm and its
representative at Shanghai. . . .Michie was active in acquiring information likely to be serviceable to British commerce. . . .Michie in the spring of 1859 engaged in a secret trading expedition to the Gulf of Pechili, and was one of the first European traders to gain direct knowledge of Wei-hai-Wei, Chefoo, Newchang, and other places on that then unknown coast. In 1861 he helped Sir James Hope [q. v.] in his negotiations with the Taiping rebels. He went up the River Yangtze with the expedition which was to protect British trade, and at Nanking. . . In 1883 Michie settled at Tientsin, where he not only carried on his private business but acted as correspondent of 'The Times.' For some years too he edited the 'Chinese Times,' published at Tientsin, and wrote occasionally for 'Blackwood,' 'Leitner,' and other magazines. In 1895 he was 'The Times’ special correspondent during the Chino-Japanese war." S.E.F. Wikipedia. After he retired to England he wrote three books on China. His book is full of detail and includes references to John Bell's Travels from St Petersburg in Russia, to diverse parts of Asia. Two chapters on Mongols History and Mongols—Physical and Mental Characteristics. In Kyakhta he meets with Mitchell Grant 'Thither we proceeded with our caravan, and soon fell into comfortable quarters by the kind assistance of my countryman, Mr. Grant.' MICHIE, ALEXANDER.1864. The Siberian overland route from Peking to Petersburg pp204-205