Hainan (China) - A tourist ship suddenly comes across a child (10) on the high seas. As it turned out, the boy had been drifting alone at sea for many hours. The incident is already being celebrated online as a real-life version of Robinson Crusoe.

The boy named Liang had secretly set off on a fishing trip in his boat in the southern Chinese province of Hainan a few days ago when he got lost on the high seas and was unable to find his way back to shore.

His worried parents immediately set out to look for him when they noticed his disappearance. As they could not find him anywhere that night, they finally called the police, according to the South China Morning Post .

In the end, however, Liang was found by chance on March 22 by a tourist boat whose crew had spotted his bright green boat on the water. At that time, the ten-year-old had already been missing for 24 hours and was more than 30 kilometers away from his home.

His survival is considered a miracle , as he had not drifted very far from the shore or died of thirst, as was to be expected. Before he was rescued, other ships had already passed him, but none had heard the boy's cries for help.

In his village, Liang is regarded as a bit of a wild child. According to local media reports, he has already done some daring things in his young life. The Chinese boy has already climbed a telegraph pole and set fire to a temple. The boy is also on a kind of watch list with the police, as he does not always take compulsory schooling so seriously.

Liang had even been sent to a reform school once before, where he is said to have merely enjoyed the food.

Perhaps these crazy experiences had already prepared him for the incident at sea, as Liang was "surprisingly positive" despite the long time at sea.

When he returned home after his rescue, he simply went back to playing in the garden, unimpressed, according to his father.

Liang's story quickly gained attention online. Some users compared the incident to the story of Robinson Crusoe or the movie "Life of Pi".