"We just want our stolen children back," said Sun Haiyang, 36, as he gave a poignant speech on the sidewalk of Beijing's south Third Ring Road on September 27 that drew crowds curious about the thousands of young and innocent faces who are missing.

Photos of lost children from Guizhou Province

Holding banners and photos, some 30 parents, most from rural areas, gathered not only to tell family tragedies of losing their own flesh and blood, but also to reveal a rampant and generally ignored crime in China - child trafficking.

They were members of the parents of alliance of stolen children who traveled many provinces to find their missing kids. They said they came to the capital to catch more attention.

"Traffickers are everywhere," exclaimed 32-year-old Chen Fengdiao in tears. With a poster, she knelt on the ground and begged passersby to help find her 4-year-old son Li Junhong, who was abducted on October 9, 2008, as he was playing outside his home in Huizhou, Guangdong Province.

Signs, pictures, banners and pleas showed most abductees were boys, under age 10, some toddlers were stolen from cradles and driven swiftly away by cars. Even if they were found, it's likely the children won't remember who their true parents are.

There is no official number of total trafficked children in China.

According to Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV, about 200,000 children go missing in China each year, and more than 600,000 cases have not been solved yet.