A MOTHER in Zhejiang Province found her son with whom she had lost contact for more than a year through the 6th National Census.
The mother, Shi Jingqing, met her son, Xuan Bin, in Shenzhen last month with help from the Shenzhen Committee of Population Census, but he refused to go home with her, yesterday s Southern Metropolis Daily reported.
I ve been looking for him for more than a year since he left but he has never written to me or answered my phone calls. Writing to the committee was my last hope and I did not expect they would help me. I am so grateful that they helped me find my son, she said.
Shi told the newspaper her son, who studied at a key university in Tianjin, left university when he was a junior student and went to work in Guangdong Province in 2009. Since then he had not answered any phone calls from his family and did not return for the Spring Festival last year.
We found his boss in June when he answered my son s phone, saying my son was out. He told us Xuan was in Gongming, Bao an District, but he did not give us an address. I went with my daughter to Shenzhen to find him, but he refused to meet us. We had to leave Shenzhen three days later, she said.
Shi saw an advertisement about the 6th National Census on television in October, so she wrote to the committee, hoping they could find her son during the census.
After I received the letter, I contacted census offices in eight districts, hoping they could look for the name Xuan Bin. Two weeks later, a colleague called Liang Wenbin from Guangming New Zone found the name. After making comparisons, we were sure that this Xuan Bin was Shi s lost son and we arranged for them to meet in Shenzhen, said Hua Qionghui, a staff member of the committee.
However, at a dinner, Xuan did not want to reunite with his mother and sister. After one year apart, he hardly spoke to his family and just nodded or shook his head when asked questions. He just kept saying he had suffered many difficulties in Shenzhen, Shi said.
The newspaper called Xuan several times but he refused to be interviewed.
I tried to persuade him to come home with us, but he refused, just saying he might come back for a few days during the Spring Festival, Shi said.
(Wang Yuanyuan)
