Chinese man who married true love after 55-year separation dies at 90

This is a story of one of China's most enduring couples, whose love has transcended obstacles and five decades of separation. Now, netizens in China have turned their attention towards them when news broke that one of them had died at 90 years old.

Yuan Dibao first met the love of his life, half-French and half-Chinese teacher Danny Li in 1953, when she was teaching Russian at Zhejiang Medical College in Hangzhou. 

The pair fell in love but their taboo teacher-student relationship was not their only obstacle. 

In 1954, Yuan revealed to Li that he had a wife from an arranged marriage. The couple broke up and never saw each other again, but they kept in touch through writing after Li left for France in 1956, said a 2010 report by China Daily.

Their mails were later disrupted by China's Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, and they eventually lost contact.

Yuan fathered three sons with his wife, who died in 1994, while Li remained single.

"I could not start a new relationship, although there were many who knocked on my door. I found his love for me most earnest, and felt no one else could match that," Li was quoted by China Daily in 2010.

In 2010, Yuan was encouraged to reach Li again by one of his daughters-in-law who came to know about their old romance from a relative who had helped hide Li's letters from Yuan's wife.

Yuan then wrote to Li and also her relatives to find out whether she was still alive. To Yuan's disbelief and joy, Li wrote back.

The two communicated regularly for a month before Yuan invited Li to Xiamen, where he had moved to. Together with his family, Yuan welcomed Li at the airport - holding 55 roses.

The octogenarian lovebirds rekindled their romance from 55 years ago and tied the knot just a few months later. The couple then went on to live together with Yuan's third son.

Last Thursday, Yuan died at the age of 90. He spent his last moments with his wife of seven years, Li, and other family members by his side in Xiamen.