A Japanese tourist who lost his wallet and passport spent almost a month sleeping in a train station in Fuzhou, the capital city of Fujian province.

The 46-year-old decided to sleep in the train station rather than ask for help because he was concerned people would think he was a beggar.

Teruhiko Matsumoto, who is from Hyogo prefecture's Akashi city, was noticed sleeping by kindhearted locals, who have been providing him with food and clothes.

Matsumoto arrived in China three months ago. After traveling to Shanghai and Suzhou in Jiangsu province, he went to Fujian province's Fuqing to visit a friend.

In September his friend returned to Japan and he traveled to Fuzhou alone, but when he arrived at Fuzhou North Long Distance Bus Station, he discovered he had lost his wallet and passport.

Speaking neither Chinese nor English and knowing no one in the city, Matsumoto dragged his two pieces of luggage to the nearby railway station, where he decided to stay, sleeping beside some shrubbery.

He was soon noticed by local residents, who after discovering he was Japanese, started to offer him bread, buns and bottles of water.

A resident surnamed Zhang called the hotline of local newspaper Strait News, on Saturday, hoping the media could help the man.

Reporter Zhang Zhihong said Matsumoto was a bit dirty but in good spirits when he met the man on Oct 6.

Due to the language barrier, Zhang had to ask a friend who understands Japanese to communicate with the lost tourist.

According to Zhang, Matsumoto, having no money and knowing no one, decided to lead a vagabond life for a while and wait for assistance.

He did not initially ask for help because he did not want to be seen as a beggar, Zhang said.

A staff member surnamed Liu with the Fuzhou railway station said the station tried to reach the exit-entry administration of the Fuzhou Public Security Bureau to help the man, but no one was on duty over the National Day holiday.

Speaking through a translator, Matsumoto said he was deeply grateful to the people of Fuzhou who have been helping him in recent days.

"People here are very friendly to me. They gave me food when it was about time to have dinner," he said.

"I'll never forget that," he said.

Zhang said now that the National Day holiday is over, he will help the man go to the exit-entry administration to reapply for his passport and contact the Japan consulate for help to get him home as soon as possible.

Contact the writers at humeidong@chinadaily.com.cn and sunli@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/10/2012 page4)