[1] During her stay from 1829 to 1833, she wrote a journal in the form of letters to her older sister Molly (Mary Ann, 1808–1851), and became acquainted with many of the influential individuals in the colony.

[3] Her father was a well-to-do merchant and owner of a successful shipping business among the ports of Salem, New York, London, and Canton (modern-day Guangzhou).

While William Henry Low would be managing business interests for Russell & Co. in Canton, which was off-limits to women, his wife would be staying in Macau.

[1] She soon became acquainted with many of the well-known residents of Macau, including the painter George Chinnery,[9] who painted her portrait; the Hong Merchant Howqua; and the surgeon Thomas Richardson Colledge.

When the Chinese discovered the women's true identities, they threatened to stop all trade in Canton forthwith, forcing Low and her aunt to leave.

[7] During her stay in Macau, Low became secretly engaged to William Wightman Wood, a young naturalist from Philadelphia who was a founder and editor of the Canton Register, one of the first English language newspapers in China.

She described the many opportunities for socializing at dinners, parties, and balls, and entertainment in the form of musical evenings, card games, amateur theatre, and operas.

A re-edited version, including letters that Harriet wrote to her family, was printed by her granddaughter, Elma Loines, in The China Trade Post-Bag in 1953.

[14] A bronze drinking fountain dedicated in memory of Harriet Low Hillard, commissioned by her granddaughter Elma Loines in 1910, stands in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.