One day fifteen years ago, a father-of-three set off on a journey from his village home, hoping to find work as a security guard in the city.
What he did not expect was he would not be able to see his wife or children for the next 15 years.
Without a map, Wu Jiacai, who was then 55 years old, nearly walked across China from Guangxi to Beijing to look for a job.
But after reaching the Chinese capital city seven months later, penniless Mr Wu became stuck – until volunteers helped him reunited with his family last week.
70-year-old Wu Jicai (in red jacket) poses with his family in Xiangzhou, China’s Guangxi Province. Pictured are his eldest son (right), his wife (second right), his daughter (left), his son-in-law (second left), his second son (third left) and his grandson (middle)
Mr Wu went missing for 15 years after spending seven months walking to the capital city
Seeing his wife, children and grandchildren after 15 years, Mr Wu broke down in tears on January 26 at his home in Xinzhai Village, Baixiang Township, Xiangzhou County.
The man, now 70, vowed to spend every day happily with his family from now on.
According to Chinese media, Mr Wu can still remember the fateful day in March, 2003, when he decided to leave home to look for work.
He said all of his family members had gone out to the field that day, so he took a pig from the pigsty and sold it to a neighbour for 400 yuan (£45).
However, he didn’t bring the money with him.
Instead Mr Wu, who had been sick, used the 400 yuan to pay for his debts to a local clinic before setting off on his job-seeking journey.
The man claimed he wanted to earn money so he could continue his medical treatment.
Welcome home: Mr Wu’s eldest son (right) holds Mr Wu’s arm to help him get off a mini van
Mr Wu said he did not choose to go home for over a decade because he felt ashamed
The Wu family’s house in Xiangzhou remains the same as the day Mr Wu left 15 years ago
He first walked to nearby Liuzhou city along the motorway. He tried to look for a job there, but failed.
He then decided to go to Beijing after taking advice from the locals.
Without realising that the capital city was 2,171 kilometres (1,350) away, Mr Wu left Liuzhou bringing just a duvet, a bag of rice and an aluminium lunch box.
Mr Wu said he followed the railway tracks and kept walking up north.
One time, Wu fell and broke his right arm by the railway in the dark. He fainted in pain and found himself in a hospital when he woke up. Doctors told him an onlooker found him lying beside the tracks.
The fractures on his right arm made him disabled, but he walked out of the hospital after staying there for a month to carry on his journey.
‘I abandoned the tracks and walked on small roads through cities and towns. I begged for food whenever I felt hungry,’ Mr Wu told local reporters.
Mr Wu thanks charity workers who helped him find his family again after so many years
Mr Wu stands in front of his home (left) after volunteers helped him return to his home village. He is also catching up with life as the man is pictured holding a phone for the first time (right)
Mr Wu finally arrived in Beijing in October, seven months after he had left home.
He admitted that he was feeling ‘confused and lost’ when he was in Beijing. He also said he suddenly stopped feeling like finding a job.
Mr Wu never got a job during the past 15 years.
In Beijing, Mr Wu stayed in a shelter which provided him with food, drinks and a place to sleep. He said he stayed there for 13 years, but often got bullied.
One day in 2016, Mr Wu decided to leave the shelter and went back on the street.
After sleeping rough in Beijing for a while, he was found and helped by another charity group, which took him to Hengshui in Hebei Province.
The charity group recorded Mr Wu’s voice and sent the recording to ‘Back Home With Love’, a non-governmental organisation.
The recording was uploaded to several social media chatting groups in China, before being spotted by kind-hearted people from Xiangzhou, Mr Wu’s home county.
Mr Wu’s youngest son serves food for his long-lost father after 15 years of seperation
With the help of volunteers, the 70-year-old finally has finally returned to his home village
In 2003, Wu spent seven months walking 1,350 miles from his home in Xiangzhou to Beijing
In January, Mr Wu’s story caught the attention of Huang Weiliu, the Chief Secretary of Mr Wu’s village.
Secretary Huang found that Mr Wu’s information matched a missing person’s file from the village.
The civil authorities of Hengshui, where Mr Wu was staying, and Laibing, the supervising city of Mr Wu’s hometown, compared his records to the missing person’s records.
They confirmed that Mr Wu was indeed the person the village had been looking for.
Mr Wu was brought back to his village on January 26. After more than a decade, the 70-year-old finally met his wife, three children and grandchildren.
It is said that Mr Wu’s family and neighbours thought that he might have passed away throughout the years.
Mr Wu explained to his family that he felt he had ‘let his family down’, so he did not choose to go home throughout the years.
Mr Wu said he promised to be a good husband, father and grandfather from now on.