Chinese Man Helps Tourist Take Photo, Discovers Stranger Is His Long-Lost Relative

A chance meeting during a trip in China led to an unexpected family discovery for a man who never expected to find a lost relative while helping a stranger take a photo. The meeting helped connect two families who had been separated for decades, reported the South China Morning Post.

Chen Jie, who lives in Shanghai, was travelling in early July during a business trip to Yunnan province in southwest China. During a break from work, he visited Lugu Lake, a popular tourist site.

At 6 am on July 9, Chen was watching the sunrise by the lake when an older tourist asked him to help take a photo. The two started a casual conversation and soon discovered they had a surprising connection.

Chen learned that the tourist, surnamed Fei, was from Kaohsiung in Taiwan, but his ancestral home was Puyuan, a small town in Tongxiang, Zhejiang province.

Chen was excited because his hometown was also Puyuan. The two took a photo together and exchanged contact details.

After learning more about Fei's background, Chen began to suspect that they could be related. He shared his thoughts with his father, who asked him to confirm whether Fei's father was named Fei Yunfeng.

Fei confirmed the information, and Chen later checked more details before confirming that Fei was a family member who had been out of contact for decades.

According to Chen, Fei's father and Chen's grandfather were brothers. Fei's father moved to Taiwan with Kuomintang forces before the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949. Chen's grandfather was later adopted by a couple surnamed Chen, which changed his surname.

Chen said that based on the seniority in their family, he should call Fei his uncle.

He added that he shared the discovery with his extended family of about 20 members, and all of them said it was an incredibly coincidental and magical experience.

Fei said he was also surprised by the unexpected meeting.

Fei said there were many people at the tourist site, but he chose Chen Jie to take his photo, and they were destined to meet.

Fei said he planned to visit Puyuan next month to meet Chen's family. Chen said the bond between their two families may now fall to their generation to continue in the future.