Wang Tao, who was the reformation forerunner of China's modernization movement, took his first and unique travel to the Continent(1867-1870) after he was exiled to Hong Kong .The unique travel let him become the Late Qing forerunner of overseas travels. He was the first Chinese intellectual who could not only study Europe through his real experiences of staying in Europe, but also bring the true image of China to the West. In 1887, Wang Tao serialized his travelogue "Selections from Jottings of Carefree Travels" in The Dianshizhai Illustrated Journal issued by Shanghai Shen Newspaper, twenty years after his travel. The publication form of this travelogue—memoirs of an individual—reflected not only the special culture of Shanghai but also the employment of some strategy to promote his concepts of reformation. Living in a special age, Wang Tao experienced both favorable and unfavorable turns in life. He always observed things within a framework, vacillating between the center and the edge. During the process of observing and being observed, Wang Tao reexamined himself from others’ misunderstanding of his sex.