Still looking for son lost 12 years ago
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Guo Gangtang left his home in Liaocheng city of Shandong province on April 29, in his quest to visit 22 provinces and regions this year.
But Guo, 40, is not on vacation or traveling for work.
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Guo Gangtang, a 40-year-old man from Shandong province who is looking for his missing son, holds a banner printed with photos of more than 400 missing children in a street in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, on May 12. |
He has been looking for his son after the boy was allegedly abducted on Sept 21, 1997.
Guo said his son, Guo Xinzhen, was two and a half years old when a young woman took him away from the village while his father was working outside the house.
"I feel so guilty," Guo said.
"If I had been playing with my son in our house instead of delivering goods outside, this would not have happened."
In 1998, Guo decided to look for his son throughout the country. He could no longer work regularly because of the tremendous physical and psychological strain he suffered from not being able to see his boy.
Guo is now riding his eighth motorcycle to look for his son.
"I have more than 40 stitches on my head from traffic accidents," Guo said.
Guo said he has also spent all his savings in his search.
His main income now comes from selling his handmade gourd flutes, a traditional Chinese music instrument, which brings him about 10,000 yuan a year. He also receives 680 yuan a year as subsidy for his land that was requisitioned in Shandong.
Guo's parents, both older than 70, work in small restaurants to help support his mission.
"I am so sorry for my whole family, but I really cannot forget my lost son and I want to try my best to find him," Guo said.
After failing to find their son in two years, Guo and his wife, Zhang Wenge, had another boy, Guo Xinwei, in 1999.
But having the newborn could not console the father enough for him to give up looking for his long-lost son.
In 2007, Guo joined "Baby, Come Home", a volunteer organization dedicated to helping families look for their missing children. He started knowing many people who also lost their children.
Guo said he has collected information and details on more than 400 missing children, including photos, and put them all on a big poster. He takes the poster along when he is looking for his son and shows it to the public.
"These pictures are like a warning," he said.
"Parents should pay more attention to their children, or they will lose them one day and regret it."
The Ministry of Public Security launched a special crackdown on child trafficking in April last year. As of May 10 this year, a total of 3,519 such cases were cracked and 4,743 children were rescued nationwide, ministry figures showed.
Guo has also encountered problems in his fight against child traffickers that could be behind the missing children.
"China's household registration system should be more strict, because abducted children can sometimes still be legally registered. That should not be allowed to happen," he said.
"Child trafficking is still rampant in China," Guo said, adding that he can make out a child trafficker "in a few minutes" after targeting them for so long.
Still after more than 10 years searching for his son, Guo has turned more optimistic and grateful. There are many kind people who care for him and all the families who have also lost their children.
He has seen seven families reunited with their children.
When Guo's second son was five and a half years old, the child also accompanied his father to help look for his missing older brother in Tianjin for the first time. The younger boy is now in middle school.
"If my father cannot find my brother, I will continue looking myself," Guo Xinwei said.
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