Man ends 25 years of mountain seclusion to honor promise

Li Guochiu, a 63-year-old man, has emerged from 25 years of seclusion in a remote mountain area to reunite with his family and restore his legal identity.

In 2001, after a highway closure forced a restaurant to shut down, the owner, Ms. Lin, asked Li to watch over her mountain home. Although she told him he could leave at any time, Li viewed the request as a solemn responsibility. For the next quarter-century, Li lived a self-sufficient life, growing corn and raising livestock, while remaining largely disconnected from modern society.

Ms. Lin, who had been focused on business ventures in Beijing and Russia, returned to the property in May 2026 with the intention of selling it. She expressed shock and regret upon discovering that Li had remained in the house all those years to honor his word. Following this reunion, Li has begun the process of returning to his hometown in Sichuan province to reconnect with his two brothers and update his official identification documents.