A 9-Year-Old Lost Her Diary in New Zealand – Now It’s Become a Tourist Attraction

A little girl’s lost diary has gone viral after turning into a global guestbook at New Zealand’s Lake Tekapo.

In January 2025, nine-year-old Zi Handong from China visited the lake with her family and wrote about her day in a small blue notebook, only to accidentally leave it behind. What happened next is history.

If you’re curious about what the little author first wrote, the opening page reads:

“Today, my mum, 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, moving very slowly.”

Not long after, a traveler from China found the diary and wrote, “I hope you can come back and retrieve it.” On February 3, another replied, “I do not think she can.” 

From then on, more visitors joined in, some traveling to Lake Tekapo just to spend hours searching for it.

By March, the lost diary was filled with heartfelt notes from strangers. Months later, a Chinese woman in New Zealand returned it to Zi’s family in China. 

Opening its pages, her mother Li Meng called it a “shooting star,” carrying the wishes and kindness of everyone who found it.

After Zi’s diary went viral, travelers began leaving new notebooks around Lake Tekapo. Each was sealed in a waterproof bag and hidden under rocks, waiting to be found.

Visitors wrote messages before hiding them again, keeping alive the chain of connection sparked by one little girl’s forgotten journal.

Today, eight notebooks lie hidden along Lake Tekapo’s rocky shore, waiting like treasures for curious visitors. Each discovery brings new messages from strangers around the world.

What began as one lost diary has grown into a living tradition, filled with stories, kindness, and the joy of connection.