Cao Haofei meets Hou Xiangwei, the police officer who saved her in the Temple of Heaven in 1994.

A 23-year-old Chinese-American woman who was adopted 16 years ago by an American couple returned to China on Sept. 19 in order to find her birth parents. She also wanted to extend her gratitude to the police officer who rescued her when she was abandoned as a baby.

Cao Haofei and Hou Xiangwei.

The woman, named Cao Haofei, was abandoned by her birth parents in 1994 near the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Saved by a police officer named Hou Xiangwei, Cao spent the next six years in a local orphanage, after which she was adopted by an American couple in 2000. Since then, Cao has made a home for herself in a country half a globe away. She quickly adapted to her new environment and became a top student at her American school.

Cao Haofei and her stepparents.

Cao feels quite grateful for her special experience. She has come back to China every summer since she turned 15 to volunteer at the orphanage where she lived as a child. She is indebted to many people who helped her on her journey, but no one more so than the police officer, Hou.

Although she has a wonderful life in the U.S., Cao still wishes to find her birth parents. She said she bears no resentment toward them, since abandoning her may have been their only option at the time.

Cao has asked Hou to help her look for her biological parents.