The acquaintance was only three months old and had begun online, at first confined to friendship. Over time it grew deeper, with distance, differing cultures and religion no barrier. Drawn by that friendship, Yu Liangliang, 42, travelled from China to a remote village in Jashore’s Manirampur upazila.
When word of his arrival spread on Sunday (9 August) morning, crowds of curious people gathered around the home, many turning up simply to catch a glimpse of an unfamiliar foreign visitor.
Yu Liangliang is a shipbuilding engineer by profession, born in China’s Shandong province — an eastern coastal province on the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea. The information was gathered from his passport and by speaking with him through a translation app.
He met the young woman on an online platform called “World Chat” and had been in contact with her for about three months, during which the friendship grew closer. Having come to Bangladesh on a 20-day trip with no acquaintances here, he travelled to the village to meet her, following a live location to reach the home.
By his own account, Yu Liangliang came not only out of friendship but with a wish to marry her if the family agreed. That hope was not realised, however, as the young woman is below marriageable age. BD Global Times is withholding details that could identify her.
The young woman’s family was left in an awkward situation by the sudden arrival of a foreign national, and family members said they had been left uncomfortable amid the curiosity and talk of relatives and neighbours once the matter became known. They said the Chinese national had come to their home out of the friendship formed online, but that his unexpected arrival had put them in an embarrassing position.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report