王韜為中國近代化運動改革先驅，他於流亡香港期間展開了一趟破天荒的歐陸之旅（1867-1870），也成為晚清跨出國門的旅者先驅。這趟歐洲之行，是中國文化知識菁英第一次以自由身份對歐洲的實地考察，也為西方世界傳遞了更真實的中國形象。 王韜的旅歐遊記《漫遊隨錄》卻於遊歐後約二十年（1887年）方於上海《申報》館發行的《點石齋畫報》上連載刊出。這部個人回憶錄的遊記出版形式反映當時上海社會的特殊文化生態，書中重組的記憶內容，也成為王韜推銷改革理念的策略運用。 特殊的時代背景與人生際遇，使得王韜的觀看之道始終無法擺脫既定框架，於中心與邊緣間擺盪不休；在觀看／被觀看的權力交換遊戲間，王韜也從他者眼中性別錯置的誤讀形象重新反思自我、認識自我。

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.