Last May, a female tourist from Hubei left behind a small Pekingese dog named "Xiaohua" while visiting the Crescent Lake Scenic Area in Dunhuang's Mingsha Mountain. Despite being fed by the owner of a restaurant in the scenic area for a year and a half, Xiaohua still stays at the entrance of the scenic area, habitually following young female tourists of similar age to its owner, hoping to wait for its owner to return and take it away.
Recently, Ms. Liu, a tourist from Chengdu, posted Xiaohua's story on Weibo, which attracted widespread attention from netizens. Zhao Ya'an, the head of a local stray animal rescue organization, adopted Xiaohua, but still hopes that its owner will come back to take it away. "If it can't be found, I will take care of it for the rest of my life and love it even more."
Tourist: The puppy only followed the young female tourist.
On December 24th, Ms. Liu, a Chengdu resident, recounted that she is a freelancer. On December 12th, she and a friend visited the Mingsha Mountain Scenic Area in Dunhuang, Gansu. It was the off-season, and the scenic area was sparsely populated. Along the way, four small dogs followed her, one of which, a yellow and white Pekingese mix, was particularly affectionate. "At first, I thought they were all stray dogs," she said.
Because she loves dogs, Ms. Liu filmed the dogs following her, but didn't think much of it. At noon, while she and her friends were eating at the only restaurant still open in the scenic area, the dogs reappeared.
"Because I also have a Golden Retriever, which just passed away not long ago," Ms. Liu said. She learned from the restaurant owner, Mr. Fang, that the little Pekingese was brought by a female tourist from Hubei last year. It had accidentally gotten separated from its owner and was taken in by the restaurant owner to roam freely.
"The owner said that the girl had been looking for it for two or three days but couldn't find it and left crying. It only reappeared a week after its owner left." Ms. Liu was particularly surprised to learn about the Pekingese's background. "At first, I wanted to adopt it, but considering that I flew to Dunhuang and it would be difficult to bring it back by plane or high-speed rail, I had to give up."
Ms. Liu said that the restaurant owner also mentioned that the Pekingese only returns to the restaurant to rest at night. Every day during the day, it searches among the tourists for female tourists of similar age to its owner, following them and sniffing them until they leave, then stops in disappointment, "probably hoping its owner will come back to find it."
After the meal, the little Pekingese continued to follow Ms. Liu to the nearby Leiyin Temple. Each time, it would silently wait outside the hall for her to finish her visit. "It probably wanted me to adopt it, but I couldn't. I could only avoid it. It seemed very disappointed."
"Such a loyal and affectionate little dog, it's so pitiful." Ms. Liu hoped to find its owner, so she asked a friend to post about it on Weibo that same day and contacted friends in Hubei to spread the word. This caught the attention of local stray animal rescue organizations in Dunhuang. Two local non-governmental stray animal rescue organizations rushed to the scenic area to search for the dog, preparing to take it to their rescue base for the winter.
Restaurant owner: I didn't go home for the Chinese New Year because of it.
"Volunteers from the Mr. Bean Stray Dog Rescue Station searched the scenic area for three or four days but couldn't find the puppy," Ms. Liu said. A few days ago, Zhao Ya'an, the head of Zhao Jie's Rescue Home, found the puppy.
Mr. Fang, the owner of Yueying Inn, is from Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. He and his wife have been running the restaurant near the Crescent Lake scenic area for seven or eight years. He remembers that one day last May, a female tourist, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, came to the restaurant with her friends for lunch.
"She seemed to be on a road trip," Mr. Fang said. At the time, the female tourist was with a Pekingese dog and told him that she was from Enshi, Hubei. After the meal, the group went to the scenic area.
The next morning, Mr. Fang saw the Pekingese on a side road at the entrance of the scenic area. Not long after, a female tourist from Hubei came to ask if she had seen her lost Pekingese. "She searched for two or three days but couldn't find it, so she had to go back. I was also very busy at the time and didn't have time to get her contact information."
Mr. Fang said that a week after the female tourist left, the little Pekingese reappeared, but it could not find its owner and could only forage for food with other local stray dogs in the scenic area.
Worried that the little Pekingese wouldn't be able to survive in the wild, he adopted it along with other stray dogs, built a small shed for it to live in outside the restaurant, and fed it every day, saying, "It's a life too."
"It has a very good temperament and never barks unnecessarily," Mr. Fang said. Because the little Pekingese is a male spotted dog, he calls it "Little Flower." Every day, Little Flower follows behind young female tourists of similar age to its owner, but never follows male or elderly tourists. It has a friendly and gentle personality and never bites, "but it won't let people hold it."
During the off-season, all the restaurants and guesthouses in the scenic area close down. Worried that Xiaohua would freeze or starve to death in the dead of winter without anyone to care for her, Mr. Fang didn't close his business and return to his hometown last Chinese New Year. He waited until other restaurants reopened before handing Xiaohua and the dog food over to a colleague and going home for half a month.
After Xiaohua's story spread online, some people wanted to adopt her, but Mr. Fang refused them all, wanting to find a safe home for her.
Zhao Ya'an is a retired worker who takes in and rescues more than 100 stray dogs at her shelter, Zhao Jie Rescue Courtyard.
“I know her and I know where her rescue center is, so I feel more at ease,” Mr. Fang said. In the end, he entrusted Xiaohua to Zhao Ya’an with peace of mind. Zhao Ya’an tried to hug Xiaohua, but Xiaohua wouldn’t let him until Mr. Fang told her, “From now on, you can live with her, it’s fine,” and then Xiaohua let Zhao Ya’an take her away.
Adopter: I'm not comfortable handing the dog over to someone else since I haven't found the original owner.
On December 18, after being reposted by the official Weibo account of the Beijing Love It Animal Protection Foundation, "It Foundation", this little Pekingese attracted widespread attention from netizens, many of whom expressed their hope that "the owner will take the dog home soon".
"This puppy is very intelligent and understanding," said Zhao Ya'an, head of the Zhao Jie Rescue Center. She explained that she had searched for Xiao Hua in the scenic area for several days initially, but it hadn't appeared. On December 16th, when it finally reappeared, she quickly took it home, "I was so anxious."
“There are people poisoning dogs near the scenic area, it’s really unsafe. I gave away two stray dogs, and they were adopted by the people who run a guesthouse by Crescent Lake, but they were both poisoned to death.” As she spoke, Zhao Ya’an began to sob. “The scenic area is very clean, and there’s no garbage to eat. It’s really a blessing that this dog has survived this long…”
“It’s too cold in Northwest China, and the base is outdoors, so the conditions are too basic.” After thinking it over, Zhao Ya’an finally took Xiao Hua back to her home and made Xiao Hua’s nest next to her bed.
“This affectionate little dog waited for its owner for over a year… This cycle of disappointment and hope is the same for both dogs and people,” Zhao Ya’an said. Xiao Hua is about four years old, a Pekingese mix, and very clingy. Whenever Zhao Ya’an is home, Xiao Hua follows her around, which breaks her heart.
“I think if its owner sees that the whole country is looking for her, she will come and take it away in person.” After Xiaohua attracted attention online, many people inquired with Zhao Ya’an, wanting to adopt Xiaohua, but she was still worried and insisted on finding Xiaohua’s original owner. “If I can’t find the original owner, I will take care of it for the rest of my life and love it even more.”
