A Beijing man had an unusual reason to celebrate during Lantern Festival after a "miracle reunion" with the dog he feared he'd lost forever seven years ago, the Beijing Times reported.

Mr. Chen became separated from his dog named "Ben Ben", or "The Clumsy", during a post-supper walk in 2005. Mr Chen, who had raised the dog since getting it as a puppy in 2003, said: "I looked for the dog for a long time but I had no luck, and I was very sad." Mr Chen said his sadness prevented him from ever getting another pet.

However, on Feb. 6, he spotted a stray dog as he sat at a red light on his way to his parents' house in suburban Beijing. He realized that the dog looked just like the one he had lost seven years ago.

"I whistled the way I used to when I would greet 'The Clumsy' and called his name," said Mr Chen. "At first, he was stunned, and looked at me for three very long seconds. Then he dashed over to me." Mr Chen said he was so overwhelmed at that point that he burst into tears.

He posted his story online and it was subsequently forwarded more than 100,000 times. Many of those who were moved by his story shared the special moments and experiences they'd had with their own pets.

(China.org.cn February 10, 2012)

北京的陳先生度過了一個特殊的元宵節。據《京華時報》報道，陳先生當天與失散了七年的愛犬“奇跡般重逢”。

陳先生回憶，2003年，他從巴掌大開始養寵物狗“笨笨”。2005年某日，晚飯后他在遛彎時與愛犬失散。“當時非常傷心，找了很久，始終沒能找到。”從那之后，他再也沒有養過寵物。

2月6日，他騎車去郊區的父母家過節，在等紅燈時，在路邊看到一條流浪狗，看起來挺像“笨笨”。

“當我吹了一個以前招呼愛犬的口哨，然后叫了一聲笨笨的時候，它愣了一下，足足看了我三秒，然后瘋了似的向我跑來。”陳先生說，當時心情很復雜，眼淚都流下來了。

他把這個故事發到網上，被轉發了十幾萬次，感動眾多網友，大家紛紛分享自己與寵物之間的故事。