A young girl from Myanmar expressed her gratitude to authorities for looking after her in an emotional letter.

"I am only able to go home because of your help. I'm sure we will meet again some time in the future," the letter by Mei Ling, 15, said.

It was drafted by one of her teachers, to Hong Jinwen, deputy director of Ningxiang county rescue station, Hunan province.

Residents in Ningxiang county found a girl in July who was wandering the streets. She could not speak Mandarin and had no phone or any identification papers.

With the help of Hong, the station provided shelter and food for her.

"In my eyes, she was just a normal little girl," Hong said.

In order to comfort the girl, Xiao Hua, the director of the rescue station, arranged two members of staff to accompany her.

"She is actually very outgoing and optimistic," one of them, surnamed Yu told China Daily.

Yu was responsible for the communication and caring of Mei Ling.

About one week later, the girl finally said that she was from Myanmar, 15 years old.

After getting in touch with authorities the identity of the girl was confirmed.

Her real name was Ye Mei, and she had never been to school.

On Aug 14, she was escorted to the checkpoint in Menglian, Yunnan province.

According to authorities in Myanmar, Mei Ling entered Menglian county illegally as a migrant worker, dated a local man and they went to Changsha, the capital of Hunan province.

She got lost without a mobile phone, and ended up in Ningxiang.