Society

A league of their own out to trace missing children

By Zhang Yuchen (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-28 07:08

A desperate father drives a van carrying posters and hope across country in search of lost children. Zhang Yuchen reports from Xi'an.

Seeing Cheng Zhu pull up in his battered, old gray-silver minibus, it is hard to imagine anyone would travel around China in it. Although largely covered with colorful posters of smiling children, it is clear the Chinese-made six-seater has seen better days.

A league of their own out to trace missing children

Cheng Zhu parks his minibus outside his apartment in Xi’an, Shaanxi province. He drives the van, covered with posters of missing children including his daughter’s, in his quest to track them down. YUAN JINGZHI/FOR CHINA DAILY

Yet for the 36-year-old father, the vehicle is the only hope he has of finding his missing daughter.

Cheng Ying was 5 years old when she vanished as she made her way home from primary school in the suburbs of Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province.

Since the girl's disappearance in 2005, Cheng Zhu, who believes child traffickers took her, has dedicated his life to getting her back - even if it costs him everything he has left.

"I will never give up," said the heartbroken father, whose obsession has not only wiped out his savings account and led to him running up massive debts, but also put extra strain on a marriage still recovering from the trauma of losing a child.

Jin Lunju, Cheng Zhu's wife, still struggles to talk about their first daughter without crying.

"I remember clearly that last morning with her," said the 32-year-old as she held her younger daughter, Cheng Baoyi, who is now 5. "I took Ying to school and at the gate, she asked me to hug her. She had never asked before but all I did was tell her to go to class. I only wish I could hug her now."

Although Jin says she has all but given up on ever again seeing her elder daughter, Cheng Zhu continues to hit the road and has even established a support network for parents of lost children, many of who now join him on his quest.

The construction worker began by simply driving his battered van around Xi'an, then widened his search to surrounding cities and neighboring provinces. He even spent thousands of yuan on advertisements on local television stations appealing for information.

After meeting other parents online last year, Cheng Zhu set up the Parents of Lost Children League and began to plan a month-long trip that would take his van through nine provinces, regularly stopping to not only hunt for his lost daughter but also to raise awareness of child trafficking.

"We are determined to carry on and find our stolen children, as well as seize any chance to rouse people's awareness that traffickers are after our children," he said.

He left Xi'an for his epic journey with three other parents from the league on Jan 1. About 50 parents of lost children joined them along the way to help hand out leaflets and photographs. At one point, the little van was cramped with nine people, while another eight parents followed using trains. Hundreds more passed on details of their lost children.

In each city on the route, Cheng and the others headed for the biggest public square to display photographs of almost 3,000 youngsters. At night, they would light candles in memory of the lost children.

"We're not just looking for our own kids but for everyone's kids," said Feng Shehong, 42, also from Xi'an, who took part in entire trip. "We're not the parents of a specific child any more. We have the duty to help each other."

Alongside the many pictures of missing children plastered on Cheng's van is a banner that simply reads: "My child: mommy and daddy feel very sorry for losing you. We miss you."

Cheng and his passengers had just 1,500 yuan ($220) with them when they left home. On the road, they survived on dried bread and buns, and could only afford to stay in hotels that charged less than 10 yuan a night. They sometimes even slept on the side of the road.

Their only entertainment for the long journey was an old cassette tape playing popular Chinese songs from the 1990s.

Each parent took turns behind the wheel except Xing Zhengguang, 31. He has been unable to drive since his 2-year-old son, Mengzhuo, was taken from his house in broad daylight last year.

"Whenever it is quiet, I think of him," he said tearfully. "It is particularly bad when I am driving, which makes me a danger on the road. All of us are affected in different ways."

Jin admitted she has been unable to throw away Cheng Ying's old clothes and has never used the air conditioner the couple bought to cool her room during the summer months. "Losing a child leaves a huge void in a parent's life. Some parents even buy birthday cakes for their child every year. They just cannot cope with the reality," said Cheng Zhu.

Strain on the heart

The search to find his daughter has put Cheng's family in serious debt. Although he continues to work, he has already spent 300,000 yuan in savings and owes almost 80,000 yuan in bank loans, most of which were used to buy and maintain the van.