A Chengdu taxi driver and his wife were reunited on Tuesday with their missing daughter after 24 years as millions of people across China watched the emotional scenes play out on livestreaming websites. At least four news outlets, including China Central Television, carried livestreams online showing Kang's journey "home" from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport and the parents anxiously waiting in their neighborhood.
Hundreds of people involved in the couple's year search for their daughter, including local residents, reporters, volunteers and police, turned up to mark the reunion in the Shiling suburb of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province. Kang, originally named Wang Qifeng, disappeared on Jan 8, , while father Wang was away changing money and Liu was busy serving customers at their fruit stall. She was 3. The couple said they tried every means to find their daughter.
In , Wang started driving for ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing and would give every passenger a card with his daughter's information and photo, urging them to share it on social media. I never lost hope she would appear someday," Wang said.
Huaxi Metropolis Daily first reported his story in , followed by many local and national media. One report was seen by the daughter of Lin Yuhui, an experienced sketch artist and recently retired police officer from Shandong province, who asked her father to draw an image of what the missing girl may look like as a grown woman.
He agreed, and the image went onto be shared widely online. Kang said her adoptive father died when she was 10, and after that she was raised by his relatives, who lived not far from Wang and Liu in Chengdu. She told reporters she only discovered she was adopted in early March, when she learned of Wang's story and decided to get in touch via WeChat.
