In the latest chapter of their international 'bromance', an American journalist has finally met the man in China who was using his stolen phone and uploading pictures to their shared iCloud account. Matt Stopera found fame in the country after writing a BuzzFeed article about how his  iPhone went missing in New York and ended up in China. It fell into the hands of an unknown Chinese man who unknowingly posted countless selfies of himself in front of orange trees to Matt's photo-stream. People in the country helped Matt track down Li Hongjun from the city of Meizhou in Guangdong province and the pair began to communicate over social media. Matt eventually agreed to fly out and meet Li and yesterday - at Guangdong Jieyang Airport in southern China - the unlikely friends shared an embrace for the first time. Scroll down for video . First meeting: Matt Stopera (left) finally got to meet Li Hongjun, the man from China who happened to acquire his stolen phone and began posting selfies on their shared iCloud account . Bizarre: Matt first realised his phone was no longer in the country when his iCloud account began became populated with countless selfies of a man in front of an orange tree . Lost property: A year after losing his phone in a New York City bar, Matt finally caught a glimpse of the iPhone that somehow ended up in China and propelled him to internet fame . New friendship: After writing a BuzzFeed article about how his iPhone had ended up in China, people in the country helped him track down 30-year-old restauranteur Li . Adventure: Matt connected with Lee on social media and agreed to fly out to Guangdong Jieyang Airport in southern China to meet him in person . Connecting: Matt's tale was shared hugely on Chinese social media site Weibo, where users helped him track down Li . The odd couple have been hanging out in China since. Stopera's Weibo account already features pictures of himself eating porridge, planting a tree and even taking a selfie with Li in front of a tangerine tree. According to the People's Daily, they will also visit a museum dedicated to the local Hakka culture, meet a famous local footballer, make their own Hakka wine and watch a puppet show. Matt has said the most important thing was the amazing friendship he developed with his Chinese friend and the visit to China will be one of the most valuable travels in his lifetime. 30-year-old Li - who has affectionately earned the nickname Brother Orange -  says his nephew gave him the second-hand phone but he had no idea where it came from. Despite the global attention directed at the two men, Li says his life has not changed much since meeting Stopera. He said: 'It's no big deal if customers want to take pictures with . me. People call me Brother Orange, or take pictures of me when . I'm walking on the street. It doesn't bother me. It feels really . good.' Matt's flight landed at 9pm local time in southern China where 'Brother Orange' had been eagerly waiting. The American used the Mandarin phrase 'Ni Hao' to greet his online friend and the pair burst out laughing when Li produced the phone that has propelled both of them to internet fame. Incredible journey: Buzzfeed writer Matt Stopera (pictured) said he was stunned when he learned his stolen iPhone had ended up in China . Someone else's memories: Images of Chinese store fronts (left) and firework displays (right) also began appearing on Matt's photo stream . In his BuzzFeed article, Stopera described how - a year after his phone was pinched from a Manhattan bar - he started seeing images of Li on his iCloud account and set off to investigate how they got there. Stopera first noticed hundreds of unfamiliar photos on his phone in early February and told CBS: 'I was going through my photos and I was like, "Oh my God, who is this person?"' The photos showed his new friend Li posing in front of orange trees, as well as images of fireworks, stores and menus. Then more images appeared of people on motorbikes, children pointing at chickens and stock photos of models, plants and cars. When he mentioned the bizarre happenings to a friend, they told Stopera that most stolen iPhone's end up in China and told him to head to an Apple store immediately to report it. New-found fame: After sharing his story online, it was picked up in China and after he joined Chinese social networking site Weibo (pictured), hediscovered hundreds of messages of help . Found! After the story was shared, people managed to track down Li Hongjun - the man in the photographs . He explained on BuzzFeed: 'They were confused. I got sent around the store until some guy made me log into my iCloud account. Sure enough, there was my old iPhone on network. 'That was it. There it was. My stolen iPhone had gone from the East Village to China. Incredible.' After sharing his story online, it was found by readers in China who shared it on their version of Twitter, named Weibo. People started calling the anonymous man 'Brother Orange' because of the selfies beside the orange tree. Stopera learned of his new-found internet fame in China when users contacted him to say the story had been viewed thousands of times across Weibo. Chinese internet users found out that the photos had been snapped in Guangdong and got to work finding out the real identity of Brother Orange. Stopera soon received a photo of his old iPhone. Life-changing: After contacting the man - known as Brother Orange because of his poses beside the orange tree in the photo feed - Stopera was invited to China and said he now hopes to visit the country . Greetings: Stopera shared this image of him saying hello to his new friend in China and is now planning his trip . 'Apparently Orange Man's nephew heard about the story and posted pictures of my phone and pictures of his uncle on Weibo,' Stopera wrote in a follow-up article. A Chinese blogger connected the two and said that Brother Orange wanted to invite Stopera to his home and 'prepare the famous local food for you'. 'Matt, you are welcome to come to my house to taste downight Meizhou Hakka vegetables,' Brother Orange wrote on Weibo in a message that has since been translated. Stopera said he is now planning a trip to China. 'I think it's actually going to happen,' he told CNN, adding that he has been overwhelmed by the kind messages he has received from so many Chinese internet users. 'It's getting me really excited to visit China,' he said. 'They've been so warm to me and so excited about the whole thing.'
Matt Stopera's iPhone was stolen from a bar in New York City one year ago . Found images of a man taking selfies with orange trees on iCloud account . Pictures were of Li Hongun, 30-year-old restauranteur from southern China . The pair connected online and Stopera eventually flew out to meet with Li . They have been hanging out and even posed for selfie in front of orange tree . Matt says he developed 'an amazing friendship' with his new Chinese friend .