A Chinese mother who never gave up hope of finding her beloved son cried tears of joy as she was finally reunited with him - 26 years after child traffickers snatched the four-year-old from the street. Lan Mingxi's son Li Wei vanished in September 1989, taken from the street by two strangers who no one ever saw again. His disappearance left Mingxi distraught, and over the years she did all she could to find her little boy, writing nearly 10,000 letters and appearing on television countless times, always holding the only photo she had of Wei, taken when he was three years old. She even tried to infiltrate the child trafficker's network, in the vein hope it might lead her to her son. Yet in the end, it would be the picture she had showed to thousands over the years which would finally reunite her with the son who was living on the other side of the world, the People's Daily Online reported. Tears of joy: Lan Mingxi was reunited with her son Li Wei 26 years after he was snatched from the street . Delight: Mingxi, 53, had never given up hope - and the entire village turned up to celebrate the reunion . Shock: Wei, who was given a different name, had no idea he had been taken, thinking he was an orphan . Mingxi decided to give the search for her son one final push after her daughter Li Dan was diagnosed with leukaemia. Neither Mingxi nor her ex-husband were a match as bone marrow donors, but the 53-year-old knew there was one last chance: the son she hadn't seen for more than a quarter of a century. So Mingxi appeared on television once more - and this time, a man recognised the three-year-old in the picture as his friend, now called Jiang Xin. But there was another hurdle: Xi was now living half way across the world in Angola, where he had moved a few years before to work as a driver. It transpired Wei had been brought up by a foster family more than 1,000 miles away in Hebei, in the north of the country. He, like many other children in China, had no idea that he had not been orphaned, but snatched - so he had no idea the pain his mother was feeling back at home. Small chance: Mingxi only had this picture of her son, aged three, to help with the search . Luck: The picture was seen by one of Wei's friends, who thought they could be the same person. Pictured: Wei (far right) and his son, four, with his mother . Inspiration: Mingxi was spurred on to reignite the search after her daughter - pictured here with her brother and nephew - was diagnosed with leukaemia . Alone: Mingxi feared she would be left without a family - but instead managed got a new grandson . Mingxi said: 'I was devastated - but the whole thing was made worse by the fact that everybody, including my husband, blamed me for losing our son.' Mingxi's husband was so desperate to heal the hole in their lives, he even brought another boy back to the house on one occasion. Devoted: Mingxi, pictured here with her son, was so determined she once pretended to be a businesswoman to enter a child traffickers house in the hope it would lead her to Wei . But Mingxi told him to take the young boy back again. 'For all I knew this poor child could have ended up in the adoption process because of traffickers and I didn't want anything to do with it,' she said. The stress led the couple to divorce five years later, and Mingxi was left bringing up their daughter alone. But her search continued, although it led to many false leads, with people trying to extort money from the desperate mother. At one time, she managed to trace a young snatched boy right to his new home - only to discover it was not her son, but that of a neighbour's. Mingxi even disguised herself as a businesswoman to enter into the home of a suspected trafficker, but was exposed and had to flee. But Mingxi made the conscious decision to keep one vital piece of information secret, so she would not be tricked: a distinctive mole on Wei's face. So when the now-grown Wei's friend showed her a picture of her son as a 30-year-old man, it was the mole which meant she knew for sure it was him. So when Wei returned to China to get his visa renewed, he took a blood test - proving he was the missing youngster. Hunt: Mingxi, seen her with her daughter Li Dan, even once found the kidnapped son of a neighbour . Recognition: Mingxi and Wei were finally brought back together this week, to the delight of everyone . Large family: Wei is married, and Mingxi now has a daughter-in-law (pictured) and a grandson . Unbelievable: 'I never gave up hope, but it was getting towards the end of my life and I thought that maybe it wasn't meant to be that we would be reunited in this life,' Mingxi said . It lead to a tearful reunion between Wei and Mingxi, as well as her grandson - who, at four, is the same age as Wei when he was taken. 'I looked for my son for 26 years, and never gave up hope but it was getting towards the end of my life and I thought that although I know he's out there somewhere, maybe it wasn't meant to be that we would be reunited in this life,' she said. 'And it seemed as if everything was going wrong when my daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia. 'I can't believe I have both my children back now, plus my son has got married and I even have grandchildren.' As for Wei, he is still trying to come to terms with what has happened. 'I feel incredible,' Wei told Huaxi City Newspaper. 'I didn’t know how to tell my current mother the news, I didn’t know how to face either. 'But, one thing I’m certain of is that my birth-mother must have endured so much.' Wei, who was raised with three older sisters and a younger brother, is also clear on his responsibilities to his mothers, even if he isn't quite sure how it will work. 'I’ll try to take care of both mothers, they are both my mothers. I’m still coming up with a solid plan, and my birth-mother respects my choice,' he said.
Lan Mingxi was reunited with her son Li Wei after decades of heartache . Wrote 10,000 letters and appeared on TV numerous times trying to find him . Once pretended to be a businesswoman to enter a child traffickers house . After her daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia, she decided to try again . Showed picture of Wei aged three - and one of his friends recognised it . DNA tests proved it was Wei, who had no idea he had been snatched .