A Chinese couple discovered they both appeared in the same photo as teenagers, 11 years before they met each other.
Mr Ye and Ms Xue, a husband and wife identified only by their surnames in local media, both visited May Fourth Square in the seaside city of Qingdao, China, in July 2000. The two were strangers and did not interact, but both were photographed posing in front of the square's iconic red sculpture.
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Their paths didn't cross again until 2011, when they met and fell in love. The two married and now have twin daughters.
Earlier this month, Mr Ye was going through old photos of his wife to see which parent their daughters looked most like. He was shocked when he stumbled upon a photo of Ms Xue posing in May Fourth Square as a teenager - because he recognised himself in the background.
"When I saw the photo, I was taken by surprised and I got goosebumps all over my body," he told Sina News.
While Ms Xue smiles for the camera in the foreground, a young man can be seen behind her looking off in a different direction as he poses for a separate photo. Both teenagers were completely unaware that they were in the presence of their future spouse.
Neither husband nor wife is from Qingdao - Ms Xue visited the city with her mother who was recovering from surgery at the time.
In an even greater coincidence, the teenage Mr Ye was only at May Fourth Square on that day in 2000 because his mother was ill and asked her son to take her place in a tour group.
Mr Ye says he and his wife now think of the fateful square as a place with special meaning.
"When the children are older we'll go to Qingdao again and the family will take another photo," he told Sina News.
The photos have gone viral on social media, with some calling it proof the couple was meant to be together.
Many have joked that they plan to look through their own holiday snaps in the hopes of identifying their true love in the background.
Newshub.
