Zhang Qian, Wang Ke
zhqcindy@163.com
A 76-YEAR-OLD Australian man has flown home after coming to Shenzhen to see a woman he met through a website, although the woman never answered the phone number provided to the man. The man only had enough money to buy a ticket to Singapore and decided to leave China because his passport was about to expire.
The man, who refused to be identified, arrived at Shenzhen International Airport on Sunday at around 8 p.m. He approached one of the airport employees, Mi Bo, at the International Terminal.
“The man was murmuring something to me and he seemed quite agitated,” said Mi. She reported it to her department director, Xiong Fengli.
Xiong and several other employees at the terminal spent nearly two hours talking with the man, who told them he had been searching for his “girlfriend” in Shenzhen.
The Australian had been speaking with a Chinese woman through a relationship website in Australia. Expecting to meet the woman in person, the Australian man paid the website a large fee and flew to China.
When the man arrived in Shenzhen, he was unable to contact the woman with the phone number provided by the website. After searching for the woman, the man had to return to Australia because his passport was about to expire.
However, the man could only afford to buy a ticket to Singapore. He bought a Silk Air ticket to Singapore.
When Xiong learned about the man’s situation, Silk Air was contacted.
The Singapore-based airliner agreed to provide the man with a free flight from Singapore to Australia after learning about the man’s experience.
On the morning of Monday, an airport employee bought water and bread for the man and helped him check in for the flight.
The employee also helped the man fill in a special form registering him as an “unattended senior.”
The employees at the airport said that the Australian man shook hands with many people and expressed gratitude.
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