NANJING - When Yuan Wenlong called his daughter's lost mobile phone, the last thing he expected was for it to be answered by a Chinese voice, Xinhua news agency reported.

Yuan's daughter travelled to the Northern Mariana Islands last month with her husband on their honeymoon. She was diving and using her sealed phone to take pictures when she dropped it in the water.

She searched thoroughly but could not find the phone, Xinhua said.

"I was so angry because there were many honeymoon photos on my phone," she said, adding that she had returned to the beach several times, but was unable to find the phone.

On Nov 22, about a week after the mobile phone was lost, Yuan was about to cancel the phone number for his daughter, when he decided to try calling it the last time.

"It was unbelievable when a woman speaking Chinese answered my call," he said.

The woman, surnamed Wang, was given the mobile phone by her father who had found it while diving in the same area where it had been lost.

The woman asked for Yuan's address and returned the phone to him, Xinhua reported.

"It is amazing, like winning the lottery," Yuan said.

Wang told Xinhua that her 65-year-old father was digging for sea cucumber on Nov 17 when he found a mobile phone with the screen saver of a Chinese couple's wedding photo.

Her father was unable to locate the owner, so when he returned to China, he gave the phone to his daughter who kept the encrypted phone with her at all times in case the owner called.

When Yuan received the phone there was an attached note reading: "Life is just like this. Never give up. Have a happy marriage!"