The journey of a lifetime from deckhand to revered China hand

Inauspicious arrival

The first official reference to Mesny comes in 1860 in an Australian newspaper report relating how the 18-year-old sailor was fined for an unprovoked attack that left the bosun of his ship nursing several bruised ribs. Deciding that seafaring was not for him, Mesny headed for Shanghai. It was a brave move, given that China was in turmoil - the Taiping Rebellion (1850-64) was in full swing - and with the Second Opium War (1856-60) about to reach its bloody conclusion, British adventurers were far from welcome in the country.

Leffman's own introduction to China was less dramatic. In 1985, the then 20-year-old photography student at the London College of Printing - now the London College of Communication - was left a small inheritance, so he asked his tutors for permission to travel to China during term time to undertake a photojournalism project.

That first visit, made as the country moved forward with the reform and opening-up policy, was hard work because Leffman spoke no Chinese and only had a vague plan of action. He remembers the trip as being "alienating, overwhelming, filthy and depressing".

Following his brother's arrival in Beijing, the two set out to visit the capital's major tourist sites. One day, as they rested on the Great Wall, the brothers spotted a couple of Westerners being guided by a large group of Chinese officials and surrounded by a gaggle of photographers and journalists.

Although they didn't speak, the two groups acknowledged each other's presence. Only later did the brothers realize that the men were George Michael and Andrew Ridgley, then better known as Wham, the first Western pop group to perform live in China.

Later, they encountered one another with a depressing inevitability. "In those days, there weren't that many places to eat or visit in Beijing, so we constantly saw them in restaurants and other places. Whenever they spotted us, one of them would mutter, 'It's those guys again!'" recalled the 52-year-old author, with a laugh.

The brothers' constant presence obviously perplexed Michael, who paid Leffman "a huge compliment by complaining loudly to his entourage of photographers that I didn't look like a Wham fan".