‘Missing’ Chinese boy monk, 4, found napping on mountainside after sparking manhunt
Police, dogs and drones search for hours for ‘lost’ boy
A child novice monk in China who was reported missing after his morning run was found hours later safely napping on a mountain.
The four-year-old boy set off alarms at his Shaolin martial arts school in Dengfeng, Henan province, when he briefly disappeared last week, the state-run People’s Daily reported on Wednesday.
Staff at the school were concerned something had happened to the boy, and sent dozens of police to scour the nearby mountain. Several police dogs and drones were also deployed in the search.
Two hours later, the young novice monk was found asleep on a mountain path, and police escorted him off the mountain uninjured.
Chinese netizens cheered the young monk, with many saying everyone needs a good nap from time to time.
“You really can achieve a state of being without any distractions, just lie there and sleep,” one Sina Weibo user wrote.
“Innocent and carefree, leisurely watching the clouds in the sky,” a different commenter said.
“He just wanted to take a nap,” another posted.
The Shaolin martial arts tradition dates back to around 495AD, and many young children and adults still practise the skill today. The Shaolin Monastery, the main Chan Buddhist temple built in the fifth century, begins testing boys from age three and older to become Shaolin novice monks.
