Matt Stopera, a writer from New York City, lost his iPhone at a bar last year. He eventually found out that it found its way to China. However, he found more than his phone though. He also found a following and a friend.

Stopera recounted that his Iphone was lost in a bar in Manhattan. Some time afterwards, Stopera logged back in his iCloud account to check out his old pictures. Lo and behold, there were some new photos taken showing a Chinese man standing next to an orange tree. He would later be named Brother Orange.

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Stopera was sure he was not the one who took those. As time went on, more and more photos came out and appeared from the user.

He went to the Apple Store where the staff helped him to delete everything from his phone. He would have no more troubles with it.

However, Stopera soon grew a fond likeness to the man who now had his phone. He allowed the man to share the iCloud account, just as long as no personal information was being accessed.

Stopera then turned to Weibo, China's equivalent to Twitter, and started writing about his situation.

Surprisingly, his story mustered up some traction with the Chinese people, taking in thousands of views at a time across Weibo.

Apart from support, some users contacted him to let him know that the photos had been taken in Guangdong. They also worked on finding out the real identity of Brother Orange.

As the story circulated, it soon found its way into the lap of Brother Orange's nephew. Stopera and Brother Orange were getting closer.

Eventually, a blogger connected the two. Brother Orange invited Stopera to his home to taste some famous local food that he himself would prepare.

Currently, Stopera is preparing his trip to China to meet Brother Orange.

Getting his phone back is another matter, but it does not seem to be part of his priorities at all.

TagsBrother Orange, stolen iPhone, Matt Stopera