For the past 24 years, Guo Gangtang has been searching for his kidnapped son, travelling around the country on his motorbike and spending all his family savings. During this long journey, Guo came across all sorts of people, helped reunite seven other kids with their families and dealt with broken bones and other injuries too. Now, after this struggle, Guo and his wife are finally able to reunite with their son and at this moment, the happy father was heard saying: "My kid has been found. The future is full of happiness. God treats us kindly."
In 1997, Guo Gangtang and his wife lost their two-year-old son and their purpose for life, after their child got abducted by human traffickers from outside their home in Shandong, China.
Guo spent the last 24 years desperately searching for his lost son, traveling around 300,000 miles on a motorcycle, sleeping under bridges, and spending his family savings on looking for his lost child.
The broken parent traveled across 20 provinces in search of his child, getting injured, breaking bones, encountering highway robbers, and riding 10 motorbikes into the ground.
During his search, Guo was able to reunite seven abducted children with their families but his own son was nowhere to be found.
But Guo never gave up and continued his search. Finally, police have confirmed through a DNA test that Guo Xinzhen had finally been found, while two suspects have also been arrested in connection with his kidnapping.
After getting kidnapped, Guo's son was taken on an intercity coach by the two suspects to the neighboring Henan province, where they went on to sell the child.
He grew up in Henan and was found to be still living there, graduating from university to become a teacher.
Xinzhen's emotional reunion with his family after more than two decades was captured throughout the country's media and the emotional footage went viral.
Mr. Guo told the South China Morning Post: "My kid has been found. The future is full of happiness. God treats us kindly."
Xinzhen's mother could also be heard saying during footage of the reunion: "My baby, you came back!"
Guo's journey of reuniting with his child was also the inspiration for a 2015 film called Lost and Love, starring one of Hong Kong's most successful movie stars Andy Lau.
According to the South China Morning Post,Lau in a shot video congratulated the family and said that he is thrilled to hear that the long-lost family is finally reunited.
He added: "I'd like to say to Brother Guo that I admire your persistence. I also want to salute the police authority for their years of efforts."
According to the BBC, child kidnappings are a grave issue in China and around 20,000 children were abducted every year.