Woman had no idea photo of herself was ‘one in five trillion’ until over a decade later

A woman discovered something miraculous about a photo she had taken years before.

There’s nothing more satisfying than a trip down memory lane by looking at old photographs. Sometimes you may even spot a new detail you didn’t notice before.

But what if someone standing in the background of an old holiday snap turned out to be the love of your life? It may sound totally impossible but it actually happened to one couple.

Two people from China discovered that they were once in each other’s orbit more than a decade before they actually met.

A woman identified as Xue in Chinese media posed for a picture in front of a towering red sculpture in May Fourth Square in the beachside city of Qingdao in July 2000.

The ‘one in five trillion’ snap has gone viral (Getty Stock Image/PATCHARIN SAENLAKON)

In the background of her image, a man can be seen posing in front of the same structure to have his photo taken. That man is now Xue’s husband, identified as Ye, but at the time they were just two strangers on different trips and had no idea the other person existed.

Xue was on holiday with her mother who was recovering from surgery and the duo went on a trip raise her morale. Ye, meanwhile, was part of a package tour group.

The future couple happened to pose for pictures at the same place at the same time.

Unaware of each other, the two tourists went their separate ways and lived the next decade with the memories of their respective trips. They officially met and fell in love in 2011, but were unaware of their missed connection until 2018 when they found the picture of Xue.

Xue took a picture in front of the sculpture in May Fourth Square (ChannelNewsAsia)

Their relationship blossoming is a real-life example of the invisible string theory, which although is not based in science, suggests that two people are connected by an 'invisible string' and are destined to be together, but they may be apart until the timing is right.

“When I saw the photo I was taken by surprise and I got goosebumps all over my body,” Ye told a local news outlet.

Their pictures went viral in 2018 and resurfaced again this month on Reddit, with users claiming that the couple are clearly 'soulmates'.

One user wrote: “Considering the massive population of China, this is an astounding coincidence!”

Another commenter shared: “I wonder how many times people cross paths and don’t meet until they are ready… the universe was definitely making sure they found each other.”

While a third said: “This is wild.”

How likely is it to take a picture with a future spouse without realising?

ChatGPT calculated the odds as being 'one in five trillion', although an exact probability is nearly impossible to predict.

The AI chatbot said its prediction is 'an oversimplification' but it emphasises that the 'raw chance' of this happening is 'astronomically low', however, 'given a large enough population and enough photos, strange coincidences will emerge'.