Sunday, 24 January

Nineteenth day of the twelth lunar month

At 10.00 in the morning, the Alumni Association of Hong Kong University met at the Sino-British Cultural Association, and I was the Chair. We passed the agenda and I was elected President. There was a female student whose surname was Dong and she was a native of Wuxing. She graduated in 1940. She was as pretty as the ancient beauty drawn by Tianjuan. For there to be such a beauty among the graduates was rare. They prepared lunch to bid me farewell. The British Ambassador James Horace Seymour was also present.

At 2.00 p.m. I went to see President Dai Jitao to say goodbye. He had much to say and we talked for two and half hours. He also knows the Soviet Union well and told me not to have high hopes. With regard to Mr. Yu’s idea that I could travel via the Xinjiang highways, he agreed. He concluded that what we meant by the “Sino-Soviet relationship” was one merely regarding internal affairs and not related to diplomacy. I urged him to visit the Soviet Union if the opportunity arose. He said he was quite willing to do so. I thought if we wanted to strengthen our mutual understanding we should be in touch with the Soviet Union more frequently. He also talked about the Sino-Indian relationship, conditions in Outer Mongolia, and the miscellaneous problems of the CCP. In the end he told me that he felt puzzled that the Generalissimo was dispatching me to the Soviet Union, and asked me why. I replied that I did not know either and told him the whole thing. He urged me to imitate Zeng Jize. Zeng Jize did not ask for success, cultivating only his reputation and making other people respect him. Then he was able to deal with the host country.

At 4.00 p.m. I went to find Baoqiao at his place at Shunlong at No.11 Baoan road. Wu Shangying showed me the circular stating that Sun Fo had arranged Sheng Zhen (盛振) to take up my place as the Legislative Yuan Committee Member. I agreed with this. As I would leave the country, it was not appropriate to hold the post concurrently So I sent letters to Fanny, Tianjuan and others and discussed with them arrangements to solve this problem. B.O. Rosa and Ma Xiuzhong both came to bid farewell to me. Ma told me that she had been to Dushiqiao but it happened that I was already in Chongqing. She asked me to help her find another job and I asked her to look after Fanny. She is quite lovely but it is a pity that her friends are no good. She also did not want me to leave.

At 7.00 President Yu Youren gave me a banquet to bid farewell and put out all his best things, like squid, lily of Lanzhou, sea cucumber and so on to serve me. All were done in the Shanxi style. At the end Maoerduo, yellow, green, white noodles were served, which I hadn’t tasted before. I was very pleased with Mr. Yu’s hospitality. Du Yuming (杜聿明)[1] and General Zheng and General Huang were also present.

[1] Du Yuming (1904-1981) was a Nationalist General. He was later captured by the CCP.