China: The cover of Abbé Huc's 'Travels in Tartary, Thibet and China, 1844-1846' (Chicago edition, 1898).

Évariste Régis Huc, or Abbé Huc, (1813–1860) was a French missionary traveller, famous for his accounts of China, Tartary and Tibet. Shortly after receiving holy orders in 1839, Huc travelled to China. He spent some eighteen months in the Lazarist seminary in Macau preparing himself for the regular work of a missionary and learning the Chinese language. He modified his personal appearance and dress in accordance with Chinese taste, then started from Guangzhou (Canton).

He at first superintended a Christian mission in the southern provinces. Moving on to Beijing, Huc gained more knowledge of the Chinese language, then settled in the Valley of Black Waters or Hei Shui, 300 miles (480 km) north of Beijing and just within the borders of Mongolia. This work prepared him for his journey to Tibet in 1844 at the instigation of the vicar apostolic of Mongolia. After a difficult journey across snow-covered mountains, they entered Lhasa on January 29, 1846. Favourably received by the regent, they opened a little chapel.

They had begun to establish their mission when Qishan, the Chinese resident interceded. He expelled Gabet and Huc from Lhasa February 26, 1846 under guard. Following an official inquiry into their motives for being in Tibet, they were officially escorted to Canton in October, 1846. Huc died in Paris on March 31, 1860.

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