Parents of missing children band together
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Ten parents converged in Beijing from various provinces in the hopes of finding clues to the whereabouts of their missing children.
The parents, who hail from provinces such as Hebei, Guangdong and Shaanxi, met through websites such as baobeihuijia.com (which means "baby comes back home"), which include postings for missing children.
"Most of us have traveled many places around China in the past few years, and Beijing is one of the stops," said Wu Xinghu, 31, a father from Pucheng county of Shaanxi province.
The group has been in the capital for about a week and has appeared near large intersections to garner attention for their mission.
Wu said three or four members of the group were sent home by police shortly after they arrived at the Beijing West Railway Station.
"The management in Beijing is very strict as local police do not allow us to present posters on the streets," said Wu.
According to Wu, most of the parents lost their children at least one year ago. Several have spent many years in search of their offspring. Some of those missing are no longer children.
A mother surnamed Wang said she reported her sons, then ages 5 and 6, missing from their Hebei province village in 1995 and has been looking for them ever since.
Wu said all the parents have sacrificed a great deal in the search for their children.
"Take me as an example: I have been to 12 provinces in the past one and a half years," Wu said.
"I quit my work, mortgaged my house and borrowed 70,000 yuan from friends at a high interest rate."
At 2 am on Dec 10, 2008, Wu woke up and discovered that his year-old son, Wu Jiacheng, had been taken from the family home.
"I remembered I held him in my arms, but he was gone," said Wu, who recalled his heartbreak and sense of paralysis at the time.
Wu's voice grew excited. "I soon discovered the door was broken and the light was on outside the room," he said.
Wu said he believes his son had been abducted by human traffickers. He claims the offenders were well-prepared - first, they drugged Wu and his wife to get them to sleep, and then they spirited away the child in a waiting sport utility vehicle.
Wu said he found SUV tire marks on the ground outside the home.
"I called the local police," said Wu, "but they were reluctant to help me."
Wu said the 10 parents now live in a small hotel in Beijing which charges 18 yuan for a room per day. Men and women sleep on the floor, one by one, he said.
"Now the biggest dream for us is to make sure our children are safe and have a happy life, no matter whether they are living with us or not," Wu said.
"Finding children has made us almost bankrupt. It's a tragedy for all these families. We really hope the situation never happens to other people."
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