Memoir offers insight into ex-premier's life

A copy of Wen Jiabao's Geological Notes.[Photo provided to China Daily]

A book by former premier Wen Jiabao, containing many previously unseen notes and photographs, was published nationwide on Saturday.

The book, Wen Jiabao's Geological Notes, features more than 160 of Wen's handwritten notes, diary entries and photos from between 1968 and 1985, when he was working in the country's geological sector.

Wen has a professional background in geology and engineering. After he earned a postgraduate degree from the Beijing Institute of Geology in 1968, he was sent to Gansu province for geological work.

Over the following 17 years, he worked in the geological sector before becoming deputy director of the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 1985.

His book, published by Geology Press, has four chapters recording geology field trips, management experiences, investigations and studies. It also reveals many details of Wen's life during this period.

In a diary entry from May 1970, Wen wrote that his colleagues were playing cards at night to relax after spending a whole day walking across the mountains.

"I don't want to waste my time on playing cards. The work of a diligent fool doubles that of a lazy wit. I should spend all my time on study and contribute all I learn to help people in my limited lifetime," he said in the diary.