I’m 100% Chinese in my gene. I grew up in China and earned my Chinese literature degree there.
I started my career in PR/Ad firms in Beijing, where I worked 80+ hours a week. When we were young we thought we can push our physical limit, and let other people push us too. I got very sick.
I decided to change and found a job in a more humane multinational company. And there, I met my French guy. He was an intern working on the same project as me. We fell in love at first sight! (I never thought I’ll believe the story until it happened to me.) Unfortunately, he’s back in France after 3 weeks. We endured almost 2 years of a long-distance relationship (yes, that’s possible too.) Finally, we decided I should move to Paris to be with him.
I started learning French at La Sorbonne and even got my graduate degree in Art Management and MBA. (Another proof of how good Chinese are at studying. lol) And we traveled a bit.
At Mont Saint-Michel
After 5 years in Paris, getting married, and working a little bit in the fashion industry, we moved to San Francisco! We lived very close to the home of SF Giant. It was super windy there! And I experienced the most unexpected and coldest winter–the month of June in San Francisco!*
Our First Apartment in SF
Foggy San Francisco
And we like to discover the country.
Qi at Muir Woods
Visit New York
Then, I became a mom. It was chaotic, painful, and sleepless, but also beautiful.
Emotional First-Time Mom
Now we have two daughters, 4 and almost 6 years old. We settled in a small house on a hill in Oakland, where I craft, cook, write and shoot photos.
We work hard so our daughters appreciate their Chinese and French heritage, speak the languages (Mandarin and French), enjoy the food (love both macarons and Shanghai Xialongbaos) and feel at ease with both cultures while living in our so generous host country. We love it here!
Qi cutting the cake she made at a school gathering, and Gabby had her plate ready (yes, always in a red cardigan, she’s grown quite a bit 🙂
Since 2018, I have been learning to draw and paint in watercolor and oil. I took the leap in 2022 to become a full-time artist.
Thank you for taking the time to read a little about me. I’m so glad you are here and would love to know about you and where you come from.
Let’s make something together!
Qi
*”The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.”–Mark Twain.