China twins, separated at 10 days, reunite at 17, become besties before discovering truth

The Star

18-06-2025

A set of Chinese twins who were separated at 10 days old accidentally reunited at at the age of 17 and became best friends for a year before discovering the truth. - Photo: SCMP composite/cqnews.net
BEIJING: Twin sisters in China who were adopted by separate families at just 10 days old have been miraculously bound together by fate, becoming best friends at 17 before realising they are sisters.
Zhang Guoxin and Hai Chao were given away by their parents, who could not afford to raise them.
One of the conditions of the adoption was that the two families must be from the same city in northern China's Hebei province.
They had been living separately without knowing of each other's existence until they reached the age of 17.
The twin sisters look so alike that they can even fool teachers at their children's school parent meetings. - Photo: Handout
Hai heard from a classmate at school that a shop assistant at a local clothing store looked exactly like her, so she went to check.
She said the first time she saw Zhang's face, she immediately felt close to her.
They discovered that they have the same birth date, they both almost died from illness at around 100 days old, and they had the same voice, the same hairstyle and the same taste in food.
Hai said they became best friends and talked about everything.
The pair were adopted by separate families in the same city shortly after being born. - Photo: Handout
Both adoptive families knew they were twins but hid the truth from them, worrying that they might lose their daughters to their birth family.
After 14 months as best friends, their families revealed that they were actually twin sisters.
They then played rock-paper-scissors to decide who should be the elder sister. Zhang won, and their families later told them that the game of chance actually got it right.
More coincidences followed. They bought flats in nearby compounds without discussing it beforehand. Both their children are 13 years old this year and were allocated to the same class at school.
Hai said their kids also look alike. Sometimes only one goes to parent-teacher meetings, and the teacher cannot tell them apart.
Now 37, the sisters run a social media account that has 62,000 followers.
They recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of their reunion and have not tracked down their birth family.
'Every day of the past two decades was full of happiness. I am grateful to have met you. Let's look forward to our next two decades,' they posted on their account.
'The world is big, but the earth is round. People who are destined to be together will eventually meet,' an online observer said.
'You missed each other's childhood, but you will spend the rest of your life happily together,' said another. - South China Morning Post