Wang Mingqing carries a stack of cards with information on his missing daughter, that he hands out to passengers in his taxi. (Photo/ Sina Weibo account of Sichuan Daily)
A taxi driver in Southwest China's Sichuan province might think April Fool's Day is one of his luckiest days, because on April 1 he finally found his missing daughter after a 24-year search.
Wang Mingqing received DNA comparison data from police that morning and was assured that his daughter, Wang Qifeng, who was lost 24 years ago, now lives in Panlin city, Northeast China's Jilin province, the cover.cn reported.
His daughter disappeared on Jan 8, 1994, when Wang Mingqing, who thought his little girl was playing nearby while he and his wife were busy serving customers at their fruit shop in Chengdu city, discovered she was missing. At that time, Wang Qifeng was less than 4 years old.
Wang and his wife called out their daughter's name and asked everyone they met on the street whether they had seen their little girl. They searched every day until 1 am and when they went home, could not help crying after seeing their daughters' clothes.
Wang tried every way he knew to find his missing daughter.
He went to a local police station and children's welfare organizations to ask whether they had received a girl named Wang Qifeng. He checked his daughter's name on a website, which lists the names of missing people in China. He also posted his daughter's information in a newspaper.
In 2015, Wang started driving for Didi Chuxing, China's largest car-hailing company and found another avenue in his search. "I can meet passengers from everywhere in China, and I can ask them to help find my daughter," Wang said.
Wang gave nearly every passenger a card with his daughter's information and photo, and begged them to help spread the information through instant messaging app WeChat.
"I have received 4,839 requests for rides since I became a Didi driver. In the past two years, I have always been waiting for one passenger - my missing daughter," Wang said.
Huaxi Metropolis Daily reported Wang's story in 2015, which let more people know about his search.
CCTV hostess Ni Ping was moved by Wang's love for his daughter and was willing to donate one of her paintings, which has an estimated value of 200,000 yuan ($31,851) by art experts, to the person who helped the driver find his daughter.
And a CCTV program Waiting for Me, hosted by Ni, also helped Wang find his daughter. The program is the first aiming to help people find their missing relatives.
Wang's daughter Wang Qifeng, who is now named Kang Ying, saw Wang's news story on the internet and got in contact with him.
"She will come to Chengdu by plane from Jilin on Tuesday, and we will reunite. I would like to take her back to our hometown in Ziyang city to see our relatives," Wang said.
