A Chinese man in his 60s has finally reunited with his family after spending 25 years in isolation to care for a house deep in the mountains, even after the owner had forgotten about it.
Li Guoyou, 63, recently received his renewed hukou booklet, China’s official household registration, at a police station in Pingtan, a town in southwestern Sichuan province. This marked his official identity registration in his hometown after nearly three decades away.
Li left home at the age of 24 in 1987, moving to Guangzhou in southern China in search of better work opportunities. Over time, he gradually lost contact with his two brothers, his only family after their parents died.
He returned home once in 1997, but did not meet his brothers, who were both working elsewhere. He left behind a landline number, which his family tried to dial repeatedly in the years that followed, but to no avail.
In 1998, Li migrated to Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province in northern China, where he met a highway restaurant owner named Lin. Lin took Li in as an employee, providing him with a means to make a living.
Three years later, the highway closed, and Lin had to shut down her restaurant. Concerned for Li, who would soon be homeless, she asked him to look after her house deep in the mountains, assuring him he could “feel free to leave anytime.”
Over the next 25 years, Lin operated businesses in Beijing and even Russia, returning to the mountain house only in May, when she intended to sell it. To her shock, she discovered that Li had remained there, honouring a promise she had long forgotten.
“I thought he wouldn’t stay long. It was my one sentence that kept him there,” she admitted, expressing regret.
During his time in isolation, Li lived off the land, growing corn, raising livestock, and fishing, with the nearest grocery store a staggering 3 kilometres away.
Li’s initial identity card expired in 2005, when China transitioned to second-generation ID cards featuring computer chips and digital encryption. Obtaining the new ID required him to return to his household registration in Sichuan, but he lacked the funds to make the trip.
When Li finally reunited with Lin after 25 years, he expressed his desire to “go home and see my brothers.” Understanding his longing, Lin assisted him in returning home.
Since Li did not possess an ID card – necessary for buying train or flight tickets in China’s ID-based booking system – Lin contacted police offices in both Harbin and Pingtan. They helped Li secure a train ticket from Harbin to Chongqing, the municipality neighbouring Sichuan.
The journey took 40 hours. Upon arriving in Chongqing, Pingtan police officers and government staff picked Li up and escorted him back home, where he finally reunited with his brothers.
Li expressed his intention to move back to his hometown. Lin accompanied him throughout the journey, pleased for his reunion, and vowed to treat him like family, promising to check in on him again soon.
“Li is a man of honour. He stayed at the house for 25 years just to keep a promise,” remarked one online observer.
“While the cornered man had nowhere to go but the borrowed house, the drifting woman provided him refuge – and in return, he cared for her property. It’s pointless to argue who owes who,” noted another. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
