This man traveled on a motorbike for 24 years looking for his son and then the unthinkable happened. Wow, I have an amazing story for you. This man rode his motorbike for 24 years all over China looking for his son. His baby had had been taken from him when he was only two years old. But Guo Gantang could never forget it.
So he kept driving
driving and driving and then the unthinkable habit Guanggantang. So first a little background. Gua Gang Tang is from China, a huge country. As you know, where thousands of children go missing every year. The government is the first to admit that it’s a national problem and is taking steps to solve the problem of children being taken from their parents against their freedom and sold.
Now back to the story it happened to little 2.5-year-old Gao Shinsei. He was playing in front of his house when a couple discovered him. They had been dating for some time and had devised a plan to find a child, take him away, and then sell him. What a terrible plan.
In large part
The practice has been encouraged by China’s one-child policy which until 2015 allowed parents to have only one child. This combined with a preference for boys has led to a huge black market in newborn boys, with couples paying a lot to have a boy without an adequate pension system, parents often expect their children to take care of them in their old age. This is not to say that girls are not sold and bought, but they often end up as servants or as brides for an only child.
And so the vicious cycle continues and the children continue to disappear. Not only in China, but human trafficking has also been one of the most terrible human rights violations in the world.
But I’m not here to depress you. In reality, this story is not just full of pain, although it may seem so. The two suspects in this story, a woman named Tan and her boyfriend named Ju had it all planned. He would pick up the child and take him to the bus station where her partner would wait for him and be ready to take them both. On the intercity bus.
She picked up
Lil Guo and took him away at a time when neither of his parents was looking. Within moments they were on the bus with Little Guo not knowing what was going on but certainly sensing that something was wrong. The experience had to be terrifying for him. Arriving in the next town, the couple soon found buyers and sold Li Run. They would now raise him as their own and as the boy was too young to realize that he had been taken, he would soon not even remember that his life had been different.
When Guochin says his father realized that his son was not where he had left him
He panicked and started looking for him. He went around the house, the neighborhood and asked everyone if they had seen his little boy. He called the police, who quickly found out what had happened and told Mr. Gang Tang that the child was probably already far away and out of their jurisdiction.
It happened all the time and most of the children were never found. Guo Gang Tang and his wife, Sang Wang, were inconsolable. Their little boy had been the center of their universe and they could not let him go. They felt so helpless, so helpless, especially when they learned that they were not the only parents to whom this had happened. They realized that looking for a child in a country of one 3 billion people is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
But Guo still couldn’t let it go. After a few months, the police gave up the search for his son and set out to keep looking. Seriously, if you look up the word persistence in the dictionary, you might find a picture of his father like a Bulldog. He stuck to the case and vowed he would find his son. His wife was suspicious and didn’t like where this was going.
But he also knew that without any effort on his part
they would have to give up their little boy with a heavy heart. She watched her husband pack up some belongings and walk away, waving to her until he reached the end of her street and so began the epic journey that would last 24 years and take him more than 500. 0 km across China. He had no concrete plan but to raise awareness. He printed large banners to hang on the back of his motorbike and printed leaflets to hand out to people.
The banner showed a huge picture of his young son and explained the reasons for his trip. They read Son, where are you? Dad is looking for you to come home. It is perhaps hard to imagine what Guo must have gone through, but it was the pain and loss that kept him going. He had a map and started crossing out the towns and cities he visited and kept asking everyone.
Sometimes he would get a clue and follow the information in the hope of finding his son
But he always ended up empty-handed and had to start all over again for a couple of days. This seems doable for a couple of weeks, maybe, but to go on for months and years and decades is amazing. Along the way. Guo went through more than ten motorbikes and had his share of traffic accidents.
He also spent all the money he had saved and often slept on the streets or under bridges. He did odd jobs to earn some money or begged for money to help his cause. He was robbed several times, broke some bones and often hit rock bottom and needed to return home. He gave everything he had in his search, but he never gave up because every time he returned home, he became restless and knew that he was the only one who could bring his son back. So he would set off again and keep searching for his son.
But gradually, Guo’s incredible journey
Began to reach the masses and touch the hearts of many people. In a way, his search became a symbol for all the children who had disappeared and continued to disappear. In 2015, when Guo himself was still on the road and still driving with his flags, searching for his now 20-year-old son, a film producer took an interest in the story and made a movie called Lost in Love, starring Chinese star Andy Lau as the father. With all the attention he was receiving, Guo brought to light the heartbreaking problem of abducted children in China.
With his search efforts, experience and expertise, he was able to find other children.
Parents who had suffered the same fate as him came to him for help
and in some cases, he was able to find a child. He set up a website and a few years later a nonprofit organization so that he could help more parents and spread the word about his own cause. Thanks to his efforts, more and more children came home and Guo Gang Tang became a national celebrity. But unfortunately, his own son was still missing, so he continued to ride his motorbike around China technologies had also caught up, and the Chinese police had started to create a DNA database so that private parents could be linked to potentially missing children.
Guo and his wife were more than happy to have blood taken to add to the data in hope of finding a match.
Penalties for child trafficking were also stiffened as the government was softening its enforcement of the one-child policy. Fewer children were taken, but still no trace of the child until one day the unthinkable happened. 24 years had passed since Guo first went out on a motorbike 24 years where most people would have given up long ago and where no one gave them any hope of finding their son who had already turned 26, they received a message from the police through their colleagues in the neighboring province. They had received a tip-off of a possible match.
A DNA test confirmed the unbelievable this young man was indeed their son abducted so many years ago.
He had grown up with his new parents and had never been told he was adopted. As much as the news came as a shock to his birth parents. Can you imagine what it must feel like to find out that suddenly your whole life has been a lie? It’s like having your world turned upside down. It took a while for everyone involved to come to terms with the events.
But of course, the reunion was inevitable
Guo Gang Tang’s biggest dream and the reason he had searched for 24 years had come true and he had found his son. The moment when he and his wife meet their son for the first time is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. They cry and embrace him with fervor. If you aren’t affected by this, you must be made of stone.
The event made headlines around the world and gave goosebumps to many. No one had seen it coming except perhaps Guo Gang Tang himself, who never allowed himself to lose hope. Hang Sengyuan, the film’s director, said that today lost and Love finally has a real happy ending. And it is amazing that after so many years and Miles Wogan Tang has found his son hit the like button. If you too are amazed and let me know in the comments what you would do if your son disappeared one day.