人们常常放飞氢气球传达美好愿望，但气球脆弱无比，经不起挤压、针刺，飞到高空还会爆炸，很难飘远。英国曼彻斯特市一位4岁的小女孩6周前放飞的一只氢气球居然随风飘到了近1万公里外的中国，被一位广州小伙子捡到。

Alice Maines and her balloon. [File Photo]

When four-year old Alice Maines released her balloon at her school fete on a rainy day in Manchester, UK, never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that it would end up being found by Xie Yufei in a park in Guangzhou, a sprawling metropolis 75 miles north of Hong Kong.

The balloon, that cost just one pound, was one of 100 that were launched in a balloon race at Alice's Flixton Junior School's annual summer fair.

Each one of the balloons carried a numbered ticket promising the finder a prize: a visit to Chester Zoo.

In the weeks that followed, balloons were posted back to the school, mostly from suburbs a few miles west of Manchester, although a couple made it to Liverpool.

Alice's balloon, gave everyone quite a start when a letter with a Chinese postmark and stamp arrived on September 5 at the headmaster's office.

According to the Daily Mail, the letter read: "I picked up this balloon when my friends and I were playing on August 25. I am in China, so I think it has traveled the furthest. Left is my picture. I am happy to pick it up."

Xie, who designs air conditioning units, revealed just how he had come across the balloon.

"We were playing basketball in a park. I saw it by the edge of the court. It was shrunk, and there was an address attached."

Shrunk though it was, the balloon had not burst - something that had meteorologists surprised.

The school is now sending Xie a parcel of letters and drawings from the pupils.

(ANI)

Vocabulary:

fete： 庆祝会

meteorologist：气象学家

（英语点津 Celene 编辑）