China. Far.

We’re a bit late in reporting this, but I simply couldn’t resist once I got my hands on the entire transcript of President Bush’s private conversation accidentally caught on tape at the recent G-8 Summit. Since we’re a travel website, let’s stick to the pertinent topic at hand: Geography and travel. I’ll let the record, which comes to us from The Washington Post, speak for itself.

Bush (to Chinese President Hu Jintao): Gotta go home. Got something to do tonight. Go to the airport, get on the airplane and go home. How about you? Where are you going? Home?

Bush : This is your neighborhood. It doesn’t take you long to get home. How long does it take you to get home?

Reply is inaudible.

Bush : “Eight hours? Me too. Russia’s a big country and you’re a big country.”

At this point, the president seems to bring someone else into the conversation.

Bush : It takes him eight hours to fly home.

He turns his attention to a server.

Bush : No, Diet Coke, Diet Coke.

He turns back to whomever he was talking with.

Bush : It takes him eight hours to fly home. Eight hours. Russia’s big and so is China.