In New Zealand, a Girl Lost Her Diary and Created a Sweet Tradition for Tourists (4 photos)

A Chinese schoolgirl from Shenzhen, Ji Handong, left her diary on a tourist route near Lake Tekapo in New Zealand, which has since become a forum for messages from around the world.





The girl's parents took her on a trip in January 2025. On the first page of her diary, Ji described her jetboat experience in Chinese characters and pinyin. In an entry for January 31st, she wrote: "Today, my mom, dad, brother, and grandma went on a jetboat." I thought it was one of those shark-shaped boats, but it turned out to be a boat with a lot of people, moving very slowly."



The diary was discovered by another tourist from China, who left a message that started a chain of entries. Visitors from all over the world left well-wishes, jokes, and travel stories, turning the notebook into a makeshift guestbook. The story went viral on social media and caught the attention of the girl's mother, Li Meng. The diary was returned to the family in May.





The event inspired other tourists to leave diaries at the lake: eight notebooks are currently hidden. A Chinese publisher has already expressed interest in publishing a book based on the story.