2 Chinese Boys Traveled 50 Miles On Bus Undercarriage To Meet Parents

Two Chinese boys traveled for 50 miles by hiding under a shuttle bus on Thursday, Nov. 23, to find their parents who they thought worked in a neighboring city.

Both the children, left a school in Nazuo, Guangxi province, and hid under the bus which was going to the city Baise. They traveled for 50 miles on roads which are said to have steep slopes and reached the Xilin County Bus Terminal, a station which comes en route to Baise, where they were found.

According to a report by the Southern Morning Post (Nanguo Zaobao), both of the children were from a primary school in Nazo Miao Village, Guangxi, southern China, and were housed inside the school.

After the reporter contacted Xilin County Bus Terminal, a staff member there reportedly confirmed the fact that the incident took place in Xilin. The boys are thought to have got out through a gap at the bottom of the school gate after which they hid under the bus.

"They are really thin so they could fit in [the undercarriage]," a bus station worker said.

The report said that the station security officers at Xilin County Bus Terminal conducted an inspection, which is when they found the two children hidden underneath the bus. They were surprised to find both the children unharmed.

The police then contacted the school and a teacher came and took the children back to school.

According to one of the officials, it was discovered that the children wanted to go to Baise to find their parents. The official also stated that they later found out that the parents of the children worked in the Chinese province of Guangdong.

It was reported that the relatives of the children, in order to comfort the children, told them that their parents worked in Baise.

The report stated that on Thursday afternoon, the pictures of the two boys went viral on WeChat, the Chinese social media application.

According to a BBC report, the incident led to a massive online reaction on the Chinese microblog Sina Weibo. Many of the users on the website called the pictures "heartbreaking."

The report said that one of the users in the blog said, "There are way too many young children in China now who are separated from their parents from a young age. Who is caring for them, and finding a solution to their problems?"

Another user called the incident a "tragedy in society." A user also said more attention should be given to left-behind children.

The report stated that these two children are among millions of children in China who are staying in rural areas, whose parents have gone on to work in the cities.

It also said the incident has resulted in many people ridiculing President Xi Jinping's idea of a "China Dream" which had set particular goals for the nation. One of the goals was to decrease the poverty of the nation by 2020.