Raymond Chung and Tina Yuen first fell in love when they were teenagers and have finally been reunited in Preston after 50 years.
They first crossed paths when they both worked at Tina’s father’s restaurant in Holland but they lost touch after Raymond moved to another part of the country and later to the UK.
Tina then herself moved abroad to work in Germany before they both went on to marry other people but they both ended in divorce.
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In the meantime, Raymond embraced his new life in Preston and became Chair of Preston and District Chinese Community Association.
Tina never gave up hope of finding him again and she managed to track him down last year through social media.
She discovered Raymond was retired and living in Preston, where he had run two successful restaurants Great Times in the Old Co-Op Building on Lancaster Road and FACE on Guildhall Street.
Great Times was filmed in 2014 for Hollywood film A Monster Calls starring Liam Neeson and Sigourney Weaver.
After finding out where Raymond was, Tina caught the first flight she could to Manchester and they met up in an emotional reunion.
Raymond said: “It was wonderful to see Tina again, she is just as beautiful as I remember her.”
Tina added: “Raymond was my first love. We parted in 1973 and much has happened since then, but his eyes still look at me in just the same way as they did when I was 17 years old. I am so happy we have found each other again.”
The couple were introduced to Mayor Councillor Yakub Patel by Raymond’s close friend former councillor and now Alderman Veronica Afrin.
He invited them to the Mayor’s Parlour for tea and biscuits, so he could hear more of their special love story.
Raymond presented the Mayor with a thank you gift commemorating the 2024 Chinese Year of the Dragon.
The couple are now off to pay a visit to Hong Kong, with marriage on the cards in the future.
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