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9 June 1896 (Lunar date: 28/4. Russian date: 28/5) Clear with slight rain later. "The area of this city is more than a hundred leagues. The population is over a million. The streets and buildings are large and magnificent. The River Neva encircles the whole city, and the imperial palace stands by the river. Each government building and all the schools are laid out in an orderly, symmetrical way. The design is excellent. It is truly an outstanding city." 14 July 1896 (Lunar date: 4/6. Russian date: 2/7) Clear weather. "At 2:00 P. M. we arrived at Peterhof after travelling 140 leagues. Two carriages from the Imperial household were already waiting for us. The ceremonial official accompanied us to the grand imperial palace. At that time the emperor was in the small imperial palace (Alexander palace).. In front of the grand imperial palace there is a water course on three sides-east, south, and north. In it there are several fountains of all kinds." 20 July 1896 (Lunar date: 10/6. Russian date 8/7) Clear weather. "At 8:00 A.M. Admiral Huosudov invited us to go to the estuary gun batteries. We left the River Neva on a steamship. This ship belongs to the Imperial Household and is very luxurious and comfortable. We travelled toward the southwest for 140 leagues and arrived at Kronstadt harbor. There were village dwellings all in a row and ships.. masts bristling like a forest. In the middle of the sea on the left and right at regular intervals were gun batteries. There were also gun emplacements on the nearby mountains, which were guarded by soldiers. There was a test-firing of several guns. Their sound rumbled and exploded like thunder. This newly founded city will expand and later become impregnably strong." 31 July 1896 (Lunar date: 21/6. Russian date: 19/7) Clear weather. "At 7:00 P.M. I went together with Planson to Kolpino (more than 30 leagues distant from here). There is a round observatory building there with four or five telescopes. The roof is covered with glass, which opens and shuts so that you can see things magnified 250 to 260 times"
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22 June 1897 (Lunar date: 23/5) Bright. Diamond Jubilee Celebratory Parade along the Imperial Route "I arose early, finished a cup of tea, and put on ceremonial dress. Together with both secretaries and our accompanying official, we went inside the palace gates. We paused there for a while, when suddenly from the palace twenty ceremonial cannon were fired. All the officials came out of the gates riding horses. After a short while the Empress appeared seated in a gold-wheeled carriage with a band marching in front. The princes, ministers, and envoys of each nation all lined up behind in columns and set off. At the sides were columns of horse guards wearing armor and helmets, holding their horses' reins in front of them and moving slowly. Soldiers bearing arms and standing close together lined the imperial route on the left and the right..On either side of the street the walls of the buildings were festooned with an abundance of ribbons and rosettes of every color. In addition, the entire imperial route was strewn with flowers. A sea of ten thousand people all took off their hats and cheered, 'Hoorah!' (a kind of mansei!). The sound shook the streets. The empress gazed around nodding her head. We travelled around one circuit."
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18 May 1896 (Lunar date: 6/4) Clear weather. "At 11:00 A.M. we set off again, travelling 400 leagues. At 2:00 P.M. we arrived in Warsaw, the former capital of Poland...I heard that this country used to be a most enlightened and independent country, but more than a hundred years ago it gradually became politically weakened. Officials and nobles mistreated the people, and there were frequent rebellions. These could not be suppressed, and finally the three countries Russia, Austria, and France divided the land between them. Perhaps this is a warning to those who are governing our country ..At night outside the shops on either side of the street, torches can be seen burning like a continuous rope of fire. This is the first time we have seen such a thing since we came to the West."
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28 June (Lunar date: 29/5) Bright and warm. "At 2:00 P.M. our official companion Cavendish met our party with a carriage, and we travelled around the streets. We passed one iron bridge called London bridge. The bridge spans the river Thames. There are four vertical towers containing machines weighing several hundred thousand tons. One person can open and shut the bridge so that people may cross over it. There are two sides of the bridge that rise and fall through the air like a pair of rainbows. Also, on the banks of the river there are gun batteries and a lighthouse more than 100 chang high. They are all magnificent sights." (Min yonghwan confuses the London and Tower bridges, while also offering a short, but unique description of the Tower of London)
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14 September 1896 (Lunar date 8/8. Russian date 2/9) Morning rain, afternoon clear. "We travelled 120 leagues and at 5:00 A.M. arrived at the great Lake Baikal (160 leagues across and 400 leagues in length)..All day long we travelled along the lake through rocky passes and around mountain peaks. It was difficult to endure the severe rocking of the carriage. At nightfall it rained."
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21 May 1896 (Lunar date: 9/4. Russian date: 9/5) Clear weather. "The streets and roads of this capital city are not so clean and beautiful, but they say that all the people of this country regard the old capital as important because all important ceremonies are performed here." 26 May 1896 (Lunar date: 14/4. Russian date: 14/5) Clear weather. "All the envoys gathered together, and then we entered the Kremlin Palace. The Russian style of coronation ceremony takes place in a cathedral. If you do not remove your hat, however, you are not allowed to enter the cathedral. The envoys of our country, China, Turkey, and Persia are not permitted to remove our hats, and so we could not enter. Therefore, we watched as before from a balcony outside the cathedral. The cathedral is not far from the palace grounds."
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23 June 1897 (Lunar date: 24/5) Bright. "At 6:00 P.M. together with our official companion, Cavendish, we went to a large park ..Inside the park there was a greenhouse. It was more than ten chang high and was covered with glass. Inside, it was a spacious circular shape with a spiral staircase going upward. There were many rare plants and flowers from every country: azalea three or four chang high, hemp palms, bay trees all several chang high, olive palms, orange trees, mandarin orange trees, and a type of plantain, which were double the usual size."
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13 May 1897 (Lunar date: 12/4) Bright and cold like yesterday. "At 6:00 A.M. we passed the old capital of Turkey, Constantinople. It is situated along the western shore. Continuously for several hundred leagues there is luxuriant, bright countryside. The fields are like inlay or embroidery. Moreover, we passed two royal palaces. These were many-storied buildings that rose up halfway to the sky with whitewashed brick battlements. They were exceedingly marvelous. There were gun batteries on both shores, scattered like stars or chess pieces. It is rightly called a great wonder."
