Like some European travellers of that period, such as Walter Medhurst, Fortune disguised himself as a Chinese merchant during several of his journeys into parts of China that were prohibited to him. Not only was Fortune's purchase of tea plants forbidden by the Chinese government of the time, but he was not permitted to travel more than one day from certain ports where Europeans were allowed to trade. Fortune travelled to some areas of China that had seldom been visited by Europeans, including remote areas of Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangsu provinces.