Calling all owners

By Xie Fang (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-26 10:12

Lost keys are also among the LFC's collection. Photos by Wang Jing

The LFC was not just designed to serve the Beijing Olympics. Established in 1956, the center has handled 2 million lost items. More than 130,000 of them have been returned to their owners.

There are 1,198 lost and found service sites in the city. A lost item can be delivered there or to a police station nearby.

Police will check their website to see if there are any postings of lost items which would match those at the sites. If not, the items will be kept at the sites for 30 days and then if unclaimed, handed over to the LFC .

"When the property is in our hands, it means it has been more difficult to find the owner," policeman Chen Weimin explains.

In the storage room, a wide variety of articles are displayed in cabinets. They include jewelry, keys, hair dryers, digital cameras, the latest laptops and even license plates.

In the 20-sq-m basement, the LFC has several iron shelves placed side by side, lined with suitcases and big containers to store smaller lost items.

No matter how large or small, each lost item has a pink slip with essential information such as the name of the person who found the item, the time it was turned in, and a detailed description.

"We cannot keep things forever," says Chen.

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