Booking air tickets, buying specialties, making banners...this is the main work of Zhang Jiping and Cheng Jin in Hohhot City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region these two days.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, our country experienced rare natural disasters.
Some orphanages in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places are in the dilemma of food shortage. Food rations for more than 3,000 young and sick orphans have become a problem.
The kind and vast prairie of Inner Mongolia opened its arms to them. More than 3,000 orphans came to Inner Mongolia and became "children of the country", writing a story about "three thousand orphans entering Inner Mongolia". Zhang Jiping and Cheng Jin were two of them. indivual.
The picture shows Zhang Jiping pruning fruit trees in the yard.
Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Linhu
Zhang Jiping didn't have much memory of his life experience. Later he learned that he was probably less than 2 years old when he arrived.
"We didn't know our names at the time, so they gave us a 'national child' number. I was No. 100, so everyone called me child No. 100." Zhang Jiping said that his adoptive father was a farmer and his adoptive mother was a housewife. He treats his children as his own, neither neglecting nor pampering them, just like other parents treat their children.
When Zhang Jiping was about 10 years old, his adoptive parents informed him of his life experience.
After that, going to school, working, getting married, and having children... Zhang Jiping lived in Hohhot for 64 years.
The picture shows Zhang Jiping and his wife packing their belongings for a visit to relatives.
Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Linhu
After his adoptive parents passed away, Zhang Jiping also had the idea of finding his roots, but it was difficult to reach the goal in the vast sea of people.
In fact, the process of most spontaneous family searches is very difficult. Finding relatives based on physical characteristics alone is like finding a needle in a haystack.
A turning point came in 2021, when the public security organs launched an in-depth "Reunion" operation and relied on the national anti-trafficking DNA database to help separated people find their families.
Not only that, Zhang Jiping was also lucky enough to meet Liang Yinmei, who was also a "child of the country".
In the autumn of 1960, Liang Yinmei came to Hohhot from an orphanage in Shanghai when she was 1 and a half years old.
She was weak and suffered from tuberculosis and osteomalacia, so her adoptive parents took her around to seek medical treatment.
"My parents were not willing to give up food and clothing. They gave me the best and took good care of me. I will always remember this great love that transcends region, race and blood." Liang Yinmei said.
The picture shows Liang Yinmei (right) and Zhang Jiping.
Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Linhu
As the general liaison person for "Children of the Nation", Liang Yinmei often organizes gatherings of "Children of the Nation" living in different cities in Inner Mongolia. She has also been collecting information on the "three thousand orphans" and finding relatives for them.
Under her leadership, the children who came to Inner Mongolia gradually became a family.
"I am doing a rescue work. We are all over 60 years old, and several of us have passed away. The desire to find our roots has become stronger, and the opportunity to reunite with our relatives has become more precious." Liang Yinmei said that being able to find roots in one's lifetime is also a great achievement. A blessing.
Knowing that Zhang Jiping wanted to find his relatives, Liang Yinmei took him to collect blood three times.
Finally, during the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon, news of the successful review and comparison came, which made Zhang Jiping so excited that he could not sleep well for several nights.
The picture shows Zhang Jiping packing up the prairie specialties he brought when visiting relatives.
Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Linhu
"My hometown is in Changzhou, Jiangsu. I have already bought a plane ticket and will take my son back to look for relatives and see my relatives and the place where I was born." Zhang Jiping said.
Jiaxing, Zhejiang, less than 180 kilometers away from Changzhou, is where Cheng Jin was born.
As lucky as Zhang Jiping, Cheng Jin also successfully found his relatives with the help of Liang Yinmei.
The picture shows Cheng Jin packing his belongings when visiting relatives.
Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Linhu
Cheng Jin's adoptive mother and Liang Yinmei's adoptive mother once worked in the same workshop. The adoptive mother told Liang Yinmei since she was a child that Cheng Jin, like her, was also a "child of the country."
After establishing contact with hundreds of "children of the country," Liang Yinmei spent more than three years looking for Cheng Jin, which also laid the foundation for successful family searches in the future.
The picture shows Liang Yinmei (left) and Cheng Jin couple.
Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Linhu
Cheng Jin's adoptive father was a cadre and his adoptive mother was a worker. Their adoptive parents did not deliberately hide his life experience, but told him early that he was an orphan from Shanghai.
"My adoptive parents were very good to me. I was in very poor health when I was a child, so my parents gave the kindergarten extra money to provide me with milk and eggs to supplement my nutrition," Cheng Jin said.
As his adoptive parents passed away one after another and his son started a family, Cheng Jin took a chance and started looking for relatives.
What he didn't expect was that after several blood collections, the comparison was finally successful.
"I didn't expect it! I have been very excited these past few days. I still have my brother and sister at home, and we will see them in a few days." After learning that the family search was successful, Cheng Jin bought a map and studied it every day when he went home. direction.
The picture shows his wife arranging the Mongolian robe for Cheng Jin.
Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Linhu
According to Mongolian customs, during grand festivals and festive days, they will wear gorgeous Mongolian costumes to express their joy.
For this reason, Zhang Jiping and Cheng Jin chose to wear Mongolian robes on the day of recognizing relatives. They also prepared various grassland specialties for their relatives far away.
The picture shows Cheng Jin looking forward to this visit.
Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Linhu
Reunion is hard-won, and the long road to finding relatives would not have been possible without the persistence and help of the police and volunteers.
"Thank you to the public security police, thank you to Liang Yinmei, and thank you to the volunteers. It is their unremitting efforts that enable us to carry out our family smoothly," Cheng Jin said.
"Currently, a total of 16 'Children of the Country' have found their relatives." Liang Yinmei shared the news of Zhang Jiping and Cheng Jin's successful search for relatives in the "Children of the Country" WeChat group. Everyone hopes to catch up with this good fortune and make it as soon as possible. Dream of finding relatives.
(Source: China News Service WeChat public account Zhang Linhu)