Newlyweds die on trip to Shangri-La

A newly-wed couple from Sichuan province who had been reported missing for 21 days after setting out on a road trip to Shangri-La county in neighboring Yunnan province were found dead on Sunday, according to West China Metropolis Daily in Sichuan.

On Sunday morning, the fathers of Song Haifeng and Tu Xi climbed down a dangerous cliff on the road between Xiangcheng county, Sichuan and Shangri-La to where an SUV had crashed.

They found the bodies of both victims, one who had been thrown from the vehicle and the other under its wheel.

Song and his wife Tu began their trip to Shangri-La on Oct 1, the first day of the seven-day National Day holiday, but had not been heard from since Oct 6, when Tu phoned a former classmate.

The couple, both 28, drove the SUV to Shangri-La via Daocheng county in the Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Sichuan. They planned to return to Chengdu on Oct 7.

During the first few days, they called each day to say where they had visited, said Tu Xi's father, Tu Xinfu. On the morning of Oct 5, Tu Xi was in high spirits and said they were in Yading, Daocheng, and would soon arrive in Shangri-La.

After he lost contact with his daughter, Tu Xinfu contacted the police and reported her missing. Two days later, he and several relatives traveled along the road his daughter had taken to Ganzi. They sought help from local police wherever they went.

The search operation was in vain and the other relatives left Ganzi for Chengdu 11 days ago. Tu Xi's and Song Haifeng's fathers went to Yunnan and continued to search for the couple from Shangri-La to Xiangcheng, according to West China Metropolis Daily.

Several times the two fathers almost gave up but continued to set out to search early every day. On Sunday, they got up at 5 am, the paper said.

Police from Shangri-La arrived at the scene of the crash on Sunday and the fathers decided to take their children's bodies back to Chengdu.

Song and Tu got their marriage certificate right before their journey. They had planned to hold their formal wedding next May, the West China Metropolis Daily said.

Relatives of the couple described them both as experienced travelers. Song had a school training people applying for drivers' licenses and Tu was an experienced driver.