Chinese man reunites with family after 25 years in total isolation to honour a promise

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.