Joseph Needham travelled to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from Feb. to May 1958 at the invitation of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka to act as Chairman of the University Policy Commission established in 1957 to report on the working of the University and make recommendations for development. The Commission began work in Feb. 1958. The Secretary was A.T.M. Silva and other members were L.J. de S. Seneviratne and G.C. Chatterji. The report was completed in Jan. 1959 and released in Oct. 1959.

In May 1958, Joseph Needham travelled to Singapore and Cambodia (in second folder). In June he arrived in China as the guest of the National Academy. He returned to Cambridge in September.

Dorothy Needham travelled to Sri Lanka and returned to England from there. Lu Gwei-Djen met Joseph Needham in Bangkok and travelled with him to Cambodia and China.

He reported that during this visit he visited approximately 85 institutions and archaeological sites, purchased approximately 300 texts for his working library, took approximately 750 photographs of scientific and technological interest for the production of forthcoming volumes of Science and Civilisation in China.

Outward route:
London to Sri Lanka 16 Feb. 1958
Sri Lanka (Colombo) to India (Karachi then to Calcutta, Delhi and Jaipur)
Colombo to Singapore 15 May
Singapore to Bangkok 23 May
Bangkok to Cambodia (Siemreap) 24 May
Cambodia (Siemreap) to Bangkok 28 May
Bangkok to Hong Kong 29 / 31 May
China 1 Jun.

Return route:
Kuangchow to Hong Kong 12 Aug.
Hong Kong to India (Jaipur) 19 Jul.
Karachi to London 30 Aug. 1958