Man reunites with family after 34 years

People from all over the country now are rushing to one place — home, as the Spring Festival draws near. For Liu Bing, the desire to go home has never been more urgent, as this particular family reunion is 34 years in the making.

On Aug 25, 1985, the five-year-old Liu Bing suddenly got lost. "He was playing at the door, but he disappeared at lunchtime," the father recalled. Liu Guangshu and Li Tianhua from Sanshui town of Guanghan city, Southwest China's Sichuan province, then started the 34-year journey of finding their son.

"His mother often walked to search for him. She cried so much for our son she is blind now," Liu Guangshu said.

Recently, with the help of volunteers and police, they finally found their long-lost son.

Liu Bing said he was abducted by two men and eventually settled in Xuzhou, East China's Jiangsu province, where he was adopted by a rural family with four sisters. Now he has his own family and is a father himself.

"In 2003, I put my information on baobeihuijia.com, a charity group dedicated to connecting missing children and their families. And when the police collected my blood for the second time in 2018, it was finally matched with my biological parents last week," Liu said.

During the Spring Festival travel rush , Liu Bing couldn't wait for a train ticket home. He and his wife drove from Xuzhou to Guanghan, 1,500 kilometers away.

On Tuesday, Liu Bing's mother held his son's photo tightly and faced the dirt road outside the gate. She could not see anything, but she knew her son would return using this road.

"I'll never forget my son's appearance when he was a little boy, but unfortunately I can't see him now," Li said in a happy yet slightly disappointed tone. "You can touch him when he comes back, mom," said Liu Jiao, the couple's daughter, who comforted her mother.

"A week ago, we were so excited to hear my brother was found we could hardly sleep," Liu Jiao said.

"We almost invited all of our relatives and friends to celebrate on Wednesday," Liu Jiao said. The day, he added, is both a celebration of his brother's birthday, which falls on Thursday, and a reunion after so many years.

His son's return gave the 65-year-old father a permanent grin. "We prepared some sausages and preserved meat, which he quite enjoyed as a child," Liu Guangshu said.

On Wednesday, a day before his birthday, Liu Bing finally returned home after 34 years of absence.

"We never stopped thinking about you. Finally you are back..." The moment they met, Liu Bing and his family hugged each other tightly, and tears of happiness poured down their faces.