Chance encounter reunites twins after 41 years

Liu Yonggang (left) and his twin brother Zeng Yong

All of us have randomly been told we look exactly like someone else. But when it happened to 41-year-old bus company manager Liu Yonggang while dining in a Neijiang, Sichuan Province restaurant, the encounter would change his life.

That twist of fate came when a man named Huang Yong approached Liu, explaining he couldn't get over Liu's uncanny resemblance to his friend Zeng Yong, who lived 180 kilometers away in the provincial capital of Chengdu, the West China City Daily reported on July 4.

Huang immediately called Zeng and put the two in contact. During their one-hour conversation, not only were they shocked to see each other's photo, but also that they shared a birthday 41 years ago.

Their story quickly unfolded over the phone; born to a poor family already struggling to feed their five other children, the twins were given away to separate families.

After their conversation, Liu quickly headed for Chengdu and was finally reunited with his twin brother and 74-year-old mother, who had remarried after the twins' biological father passed away.

When asked whether the family would have parental DNA tests done, Liu's mother said there was no need – she recognized the birthmark on his right arm.