TikTok videos reunite Chinese wanderer with his family 600km away after eight years missing
- Restaurant owner posts videos of the 28-year-old, who is recognised by his sister
- Reason for his disappearance remain unknown
A homeless Chinese man who had been wandering around China for eight years has been reunited with his family after footage of him was uploaded to the video sharing site TikTok by a local shopkeeper.
Zhu Lei, now 28, went missing while working in Shanghai on May 18, 2010, family members told Qianjiang Evening News. According to his sister Zhu Huanhuan, he is married with a son, aged 10.
Since 2010, he appears to have been begging and wandering around eastern China, eventually ending up in Huzhen town in Quzhou city, Zhejiang province, about 600km (370 miles) south of his hometown in Anhui province, Hefei Evening News reported.
When Zhu appeared outside a restaurant in Huzhen, the kindhearted owner, Zheng Yijie, took pity and offered him meals. A neighbouring shop owner gave him old coats and shoes to keep him warm.
They both wanted to help Zhu return to his family, so Zheng decided to post videos of him to TikTok – known as Douyin in China – in the hope that viewers would spread the word.
Zheng’s first two videos, posted on November 4, quickly amassed a total of about 500,000 views.