he visited guangzhou (then known as "canton") with mr gillespie in october 1847 and moved there the next february, operating a clinic out of his residence. in april, he opened a pharmacy and, in june, purchased the house on kum-le-fo (, "jīnlì bù",  "golden benefit wharf") in the western suburbs for use as the missionary hospital or clinic "huìài yīguǎn"). while there, he was assisted by the chinese ministers and missionaries liang fa and zhou xue. at the end of 1854, he traveled to shanghai for a five-week rest for health reasons. he and his family were forced to evacuate to hong kong in october 1856 on account of the onset of the second opium war.