A 6-year-old lost her diary at Lake Tekapo — strangers filled it with letters and sent it home

Zi Handong, a 6-year-old girl from Shenzhen, went on a trip to Lake Tekapo, New Zealand, with her family in January last year. She also carried her blue diary, in which she planned to write her experiences as part of her winter holiday homework. However, only after writing one page, she accidentally lost her diary and returned to her hometown without it. Soon after, another Chinese tourist discovered her diary, and that was the beginning of its journey of becoming a global guest book, the South China Morning Post reported.

Handong went on a jet boat with her family, and she was really excited about the ride until she realized it was just another ordinary crowded boat. Disappointed, she turned to her diary to confide her feelings. "Today, my mom, dad, brother, and grandma went on a jet boat. I thought it was one of those shark-shaped jets, but it was a boat with many people on board, and it drove very slowly," she wrote on January 31, 2025. She had also drawn a picture of the boat. The little girl then somehow lost her diary after lunch by the lake, and eventually left Lake Tekapo without it. While she almost forgot about it, a Chinese tourist discovered her diary, and it soon became a guest book for new visitors. "I hope you can come back and retrieve it," they wrote in the diary. On February 3, another person replied to the message, "I do not think she can." Likewise, someone else joked, "You are now entitled to tell your teacher you cannot submit your homework because you have lost it." Tourists from all over the world treated it as an unofficial message board; while some used it to share good wishes, others hoped Handong would find her diary.

The diary even reached Sharon Zhou, a tourist from Sichuan, China, who was on a trip to Lake Tekapo with her mom. She found the diary on the rocks near the Church of the Good Shepherd, but couldn't write in it since she didn't have a pen. She rushed back to her, grabbed a pen, and left it with the diary after writing a message urging visitors to write their wishes in it, The Press reported. People started posting about the lost diary on social media, and it somehow reached Li Meng, Handong's mom, who immediately recognized her daughter's diary. In May, a woman took the initiative to return it to the family. "My little girl and our whole family were so excited we almost had it framed," Li confessed.

Maintaining a diary is an excellent way to open up your feelings without fear of judgment. In fact, a survey of over 70,000 children aged 5 to 18 found that 69.2 % of respondents said they keep a diary because it makes them feel creative. Whereas 64.2% said they write to express their thoughts, ideas, and imagination. While for many a diary was a safe space to confide in, others said they kept it as a record for their future self. The same survey also revealed that 50.7% of those who maintained a diary said it makes them relax, and 33.4% said it boosts their mood when they are sad. Though Handong intended to use her diary as her holiday homework, her innocent entry made people all over the world feel the beauty of a child’s perspective. And it was her innocent words that inspired tourists to treat her lost diary as a global guest book.

Meanwhile, reacting to her story, @chiemes commented, "I don't know why I am teary-eyed watching this, but I guess there are still true good people who care about others, and within ourselves we can share our part to make this world a better place to live." Similarly, @wobbale wrote, "This is just so awesome, and the fact that it got back to her eventually is just amazing." @riddle_my_life suggested, "People can create a library nearby where the diaries are kept so the tradition can be followed and the environment doesn't get polluted."

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