Key facts
- Liu Xiuhong fled her birth family in 2004 at age nine.
- She feared punishment for breaking a shower gel bottle valued at approximately 10 yuan.
- She was found by an adoptive family in Guangdong province.
- After 22 years, Liu, now 31, reunited with her birth family in Jiangxi province.
- The reunion was facilitated by volunteers and police.
A Chinese woman, Liu Xiuhong, has been reunited with her birth family after 22 years, having run away from home at the age of nine. The incident occurred in 2004 when Liu, living with her migrant-worker parents in Jieyang, Guangdong province, accidentally broke a glass bottle of shower gel. Fearing her mother's reaction, she fled and became lost. She was subsequently found by a man who became her adoptive father and was cared for by her adoptive family. Her birth parents had searched for her unsuccessfully for three days via a local television station. Now 31, Liu, with the assistance of volunteers and police, recently traced her birth family back to Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, leading to the reunion.