A Beijing man had an unusual reason to celebrate during Lantern Festival after a "miracle reunion" with the dog he feared he'd lost forever seven years ago, the Beijing Times reported.

Mr. Chen became separated from his dog named "Ben Ben", or "The Clumsy", during a post-supper walk in 2005. Mr Chen, who had raised the dog since getting it as a puppy in 2003, said: "I looked for the dog for a long time but I had no luck, and I was very sad." Mr Chen said his sadness prevented him from ever getting another pet.

However, on Feb. 6, he spotted a stray dog as he sat at a red light on his way to his parents' house in suburban Beijing. He realized that the dog looked just like the one he had lost seven years ago.

"I whistled the way I used to when I would greet 'The Clumsy' and called his name," said Mr Chen. "At first, he was stunned, and looked at me for three very long seconds. Then he dashed over to me." Mr Chen said he was so overwhelmed at that point that he burst into tears.

He posted his story online and it was subsequently forwarded more than 100,000 times. Many of those who were moved by his story shared the special moments and experiences they'd had with their own pets.

(China.org.cn February 10, 2012)

北京的陈先生度过了一个特殊的元宵节。据《京华时报》报道，陈先生当天与失散了七年的爱犬“奇迹般重逢”。

陈先生回忆，2003年，他从巴掌大开始养宠物狗“笨笨”。2005年某日，晚饭后他在遛弯时与爱犬失散。“当时非常伤心，找了很久，始终没能找到。”从那之后，他再也没有养过宠物。

2月6日，他骑车去郊区的父母家过节，在等红灯时，在路边看到一条流浪狗，看起来挺像“笨笨”。

“当我吹了一个以前招呼爱犬的口哨，然后叫了一声笨笨的时候，它愣了一下，足足看了我三秒，然后疯了似的向我跑来。”陈先生说，当时心情很复杂，眼泪都流下来了。

他把这个故事发到网上，被转发了十几万次，感动众多网友，大家纷纷分享自己与宠物之间的故事。