In an extraordinary tale of serendipity, a mobile phone lost three years ago in the remote wilderness of Xinjiang has been returned to its rightful owner in Guangdong. The device, misplaced during a hiking expedition in July 2022, was discovered by a hiker surnamed Guo this July while trekking the same route. Despite the SIM card being deactivated and initial social media searches yielding no results, Guo’s persistence paid off when he traced the owner through a residential access card attached to the phone. The owner, a woman surnamed Qiu from Huizhou, was stunned to receive a message from her property management confirming the discovery. ‘It feels so unreal,’ Qiu remarked, expressing her disbelief and gratitude. The phone, which holds significant sentimental value, had endured the harsh elements of the Xinjiang wilderness before its remarkable journey back to its owner.