After 79 years, sisters parted by war reunite

NANNING — Que Bamei wept as she tightly held her older sister. They had lost contact 79 years ago amid the turmoil of the Japanese invasion of China.

Que, 87, was born into a large family in Qinzhou in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. When the Japanese invaded in 1939, 8-year-old Que had to part with her eight siblings and followed other family members fleeing to neighboring Guangdong province.

She was adopted by a family in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, and never returned to her hometown or met with any relatives since.

Decades later, Que’s memories of Qinzhou had faded to a few blurred pictures — “a big courtyard with a pool in front, ... and grandfather’s grave”.

However, the desire to revisit and see relatives stayed rooted in her heart, growing stronger as time passed.

In February, Que had gallstone surgery and frequently talked about returning to her hometown.

Realizing there was no time to waste, her 33-year-old grandson Huang Guangpeng decided to help his grandmother fulfill her dream. He used the online charity platform baobeihuijia.com, which is dedicated to helping lost relatives reunite.

With limited information from Que, volunteers on the platform found it extremely difficult to locate her village, not to mention her lost relatives.

Que, who can’t read or write, was unclear about the exact character for her family name and initially gave it as “Ji”. But the volunteers were informed that there was no one with that name in the area.

After searching for a while, the volunteers found a household with the family name “Que”, which bears a similar pronunciation to “Ji” in the local dialect, and there were matches to Que’s description.

The volunteers investigated further and confirmed that Que was born at Dashigu village, Shabu town, Qinnan district. Her father, Que Mingguang, was a military officer who died in battle. Her five brothers were lost in the war.

However, Que’s three sisters were later married in Qinzhou, though two had died. But her half-sister Que Qijie was alive.

Before meeting in person, the sisters spoke over video chat. Amid tears they promised to meet as soon as possible.

On March 29, accompanied by her children, Que Bamei arrived at Dashigu village after a four-hour ride from home.

Even though the dense bamboo, orchards and old houses had changed, childhood memories came flooding back, and her eyes turned red with tears.

Anxious to reunite with her sister, Que Qijie had been sitting in front of her house and waiting long before Bamei’s arrival.

When Bamei arrived, neighbors set off firecrackers in celebration. The two sisters held each other and cried for a long time without uttering a word.

“Finally I have met you again,” Que Bamei murmured in an unfamiliar Qinzhou dialect.

“Thanks to the convenience offered by the internet and the efforts of volunteers, my grandma and her sister now have one less regret in life,” said Huang Guangpeng.

Huang said his grandmother used to be a silent person, but has become much more talkative after the reunion, telling stories from her childhood and the family history she learned from her sister.

The two sisters plan to meet again soon to make up for lost time.