If you plan to travel to Ireland alone and want to reach the very west of Europe, you might ask Bihan, a straight-A Tsinghua-er, to be your Chinese companion. She can sing jazz, drink beers, write and speak perfect English while leading you to experience new facades of culture and nature there.
Before meeting Bihan, I wondered if a Hangzhou girl like her would be a very sweet, soft-speaking next-to-door girl.
“I’m not,” she giggled. “But it does make sense.”
Raised in a supportive family with her parents and a younger brother living in China’s southern city Hangzhou, she believes that the city has nourished its people with a well-balanced life pace and picture-perfect natural landscape.
“Life is good there in Hangzhou,” she reminisced.
Though Beijing, 1,274 kilometres away from Hangzhou, has become her second home since she attended college six years ago, she kindles a desire to embark on a further journey.
“My family have supported or spoiled me in a way that no one could ask for more,” she said gratefully. “That’s why I am considering working overseas. I want to become more independent.”
And if you haven’t been persuaded that she is a bold and adventurous girl, I can tell you that Bihan is a feminism advocate. To her, women should be respected for being proud of who they are and striving to get what they want.
It’s inspiring that she once wrote for her friend’s column about how young girls in China are combating body shaming and period taboos.
“I am aware of gender inequality and the challenges in China,” she said. “But I’ll try to unite my generation to really look into feminism as humanism.”
For me, her determination and sharpness seem contrasting to her soft appearance.
“I am passionate about writing and communicating,” Bihan told me with sparkling eyes. “I secretly want to be a jazz singer or a freelance columnist.”
As she majors in International Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua and had several internships at the biggest publications in the country, including People Daily, Phoenix TV and Caixi, I have no surprise at her “columnist” dream.
Both writer and singer, I believe, would perfectly fit her personality as a moment seizer.
She told me that her moment could be watching the sunset on the cliff where no one dared to approach, or seeing a sheep herd being laid-back than us human beings between the mountains on the GoldenPass Line in Switzerland.
“While I am reliving those moments, I realize that I am born to experience and keep on defining who I am in my experiences,” Bihan sent a message to me late at night, a day after our talk.
“I will be happily competitive in the workplace, and also play harder than everyone else,” her voice ringing in my head, along with a brief melody of a jazz song played by her favourite Japanese singer Lisa Ono.
I can envision the image of Bihan sipping her cup of coffee in an afternoon after a hectic morning at her part-time job.
“For me, each experience is unique, but it’s always about building your passion upon your job and focusing on your own growth,” she added.
“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance". She is living just like her favourite sentence from Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde.