Wednesday From Hong Kong to Japan. We left Hong Kong at 12:15 on Thursday, 22 February, on board the Oceanic. My cabin mate was a Protestant pastor who had been in China 27 years and spoke Chinese well and knew some 2,000 characters; he had a long, white beard and was...

Saturday. From Hong Kong to Macao. On board the Kiu-Lieng, a white boat, beautiful and clean, for river navigation, took us to Macao on a foggy day. On the boat with us were Mr. Jose Sainz de Veranda, ex-secretary of the General Government, chief of forests; Mr. Jose...

Friday. Chinese feast. U-long tea is bitter and it is one of the beverages, P31.00 a pound. The table is ready; three saucers in front of every guest; the empty one’s the largest --8 centimeters (in diameter) with a porcelain spoon; another a smaller one, with soya...

Thursday We went to visit Mr. Balvino Mauricio[1]; we didn't find him. We saw his daughter Belen and her Portuguese girl friend who ran away upon seeing us. The houses occupied by the Chinese have overhanging stairs; the doors are of the pull and push kind. The...

Wednesday The silver frontals of the Church of St. Dominic and other churches are of white metal. The genuine ones were brought and cast in Hong Kong. Lorenzana died of asphyxia in the dungeon.

Tuesday I ordered a suit at Robert Lang's. P16. I took a ticket and my trunk from the dock. I stepped on the Asiatic continent on the Chinese side as I did before in Malacca. Laurel, the procurator to the Dominican Fathers came to visit me. They have more than 700...

Monday Musical instruments. Two disks, a large drum with the sound of a guitar. Violin and cornets. They throw refuse from one side to the other when they get mad.

Monday They light long bunches of firecrackers from a window. Some can be fifteen varas[1] long, mixed in parts with large ones which explode almost like a bomb. At the end of this string of firecrackers is a little box containing a large number of other firecrackers...

Sunday The Chinese festival continues; the firecrackers continue. Yesterday I visited the Protestant, Catholic, and Muslim cemeteries. The first was beautiful on because of the trees and the cleanliness [p.8] of its roads and tombs. I saw the tombs of the Masons. The...

Saturday. Today, Saturday, the Chinese New Year festival [begins], it will last until Monday. From 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon they stirred [p.7] up a colossal noise, igniting reventadores [firecrackers] in huge packages lasting the whole night. I was invited to...