New York man’s stolen iPhone made him an Internet celebrity in China

A New York man has become an Internet celebrity in China, all because of a stolen iPhone.

BuzzFeed Editor Matt Stopera lost his iPhone in a New York bar over a year ago, and somehow the stolen phone made its way to China.

Stopera realized something weird was going on when pictures of a Chinese man and orange trees began appearing on his photo stream. After an emergency trip to the Apple store, Stopera learned his stolen phone was still linked to his current iCloud account, which is why the mysterious pictures were appearing.

The editor wrote about his lost phone saga, and the story, much like his lost phone, made its way to China, where it started trending on the Chinese social networking site Weibo.

A Weibo user translated the BuzzFeed story and posted it on his account, and suddenly Stopera and the Chinese man known as Brother Orange became Internet sensations in China.

“They said it was like a fairy tale and perfect for the Chinese Spring Festival,” Stopera wrote.

Thanks to the Weibo community, Brother Orange was tracked down, and both he and Stopera have been able to chat online using Weibo — with fans of the two translating the messages.

Later this month, the two are expected to meet in person! Maybe they’ll share an orange?