150217 Wu Yifan, Beijing Youth Weekly Interview 'Growing up alone & independently in Canada'

[Miekos]

 

Growing up alone & independently in Canada

 

While his peers were playing amongst themselves, 10 year old Wu Yi Fan and his mother had already left

Guangzhou for Canada to start a new life. Due to work reasons, his mother returned home shortly after but

Wu Yi Fan remained there alone at a friend’s place.

 

At that time Wu Yi Fan had just graduated from elementary school, it was his first time leaving the country and

in that era when phones and the Internet was not commonly used, he lost contact with friends in China. A ten

year old kid whose English was not good, without family members by his side, Wu Yi Fan became extremely

introverted. Due to communication problems, he did not make too many friends, and spent a lot of time by

himself, alone at home.

 

Having to leave such a young child in a faraway land alone, Wu Yi Fan’s mother was also not at ease. Initially,

his mother would call him every day to ask him how he was doing, and as he gradually adapted to life there,

the frequency of her calls decreased, to once a week, and then further apart.

 

"Loneliness" was what Wu Yi Fan felt most strongly when he first went to Canada alone for two years,

"Independence" was something he had acquired speedily as he grew up. While talking about this period in

life, there were numerous times that Wu Yi Fan bowed his head slightly and slowed down his talking speed

quite a bit.

 

After two years, his mother, who originally planned to continue living in Canada, had to return to Guangzhou

to continue working. She could not bear to leave Wu Yi Fan behind in Canada, thus she brought him back to

Guangzhou with her. Upon talking about this part in life where he repeatedly went back and forth between

Guangzhou and Canada, Wu Yi Fan felt that this affected his friendships the most.

 

When he was schooling in Guangzhou, Wu Yi Fan made several good friends whom he could be open with,

and usually they would all play together after school. However, one day Wu Yi Fan could suddenly tell them,

“I’ll have to go back to Canada in two days’ time, I don’t know how long I’ll be there and I don’t know when I’ll

come back.â€

 

At that time Wu Yi Fan was too young, he had no other choice than to follow his family’s footsteps, and he

couldn’t bear to part from his good friends for an unknown period of time, because of this he couldn’t help but

complain and have disagreements with his mother several times over this matter.

 

 

Wu Yi Fan cherished his friendships, every time he returned back to China he would take the initiative to

contact old friends, and he said that he has known his best friends for about 7-8 years. “Quality over quantityâ€

is Wu Yi Fan’s motto when it comes to making friends, although he is not an unsociable person, he still

doesn’t like going to places with too many people,he would rather get together with 3-5 good friends.

 

 

His dream of entering NBA

 

Without his good buddies by his side, Wu Yi Fan focused on basketball instead. He started playing basketball

in Canada, being taller than many of his peers, Wu Yi Fan had an advantage when playing basketball, but

when asked about his height when he started playing basketball, Wu Yi Fan gestured below his neck and

replied that he was around 1.7m tall.

 

Initially, what attracted Wu Yi Fan to playing basketball was that he thought that it looked cool. He even

laughed and mimicked Jay Chou, saying, “Aiyo, shall I play basketball too?†After he got used to playing

basketball, Wu Yi Fan became very focused on it. In Canada, his mother wasn’t at home, and whenever he

was free after coming back after school, he would play basketball. Other children would play for 2-3 hours and

go back, but Wu Yi Fan would continue playing till after 7pm, and at times he would even play until the

basketball court lights went out. Under the moonlight, he would practice shooting again and again.

 

As time passed, Wu Yi Fan spent more time and effort playing basketball compared to others, and his playing

skills naturally improved by leaps and bounds, till the point where he suddenly realized that he could

participate in professional competitions, even in the NBA tournament he dreamed of, and was one step closer

to being like his idol Kobe Bryant.

 

Since he was 13, Wu Yi Fan started playing basketball in Canada, and continued playing when he returned to

Guangzhou at age 15, until he stopped when he was 18. Wu Yi Fan’s previous dream was to be a

professional basketball player, but an ankle injury prevented him from going further in the direction of this

dream. In his words, “Getting an injury leaves you feeling helpless, when you watch others play, you would

have a greater urge to play. But looking back at it, now having entered the entertainment industry, it seems

like when god shuts one door, another will be opened for you.â€

 

To become a professional basketball player and eventually playing for the NBA one day has always been Wu

Yi Fan’s dream, which he did not give up easily on. Thus, he made a bet with his mother: testing his bone

age. If the results showed that he could grow to 1.9m or more he would play professionally, and his mother

agreed. At the same time, he made condition for himself: that if the results showed that he could not grow to

1.9m or more, he would not continue to grow professionally.

 

At that time the tests showed that the maximum that Wu Yi Fan would grow to would be 188cm, and it would

be hard for him to exceed 190cm. “I’m now 187cm, short of 1cm.†Wu Yi Fan jokingly said while laughing.

Being unable to grow over 190cm, coupled with his ankle fracture, Wu Yi Fan had to give up his dream of

being a professional basketball player. However, since it was his hobby, he still played at times, even when he

was overseas he still continued to play for his school team. When he was schooling in Guangzhou, Wu Yi Fan

was the basketball captain, during the 2005 China Junior NBA tournament South China region his team won

first place and his position was shooting guard. When asked how many points he scored each game in the

competition, he nodded his head and smiled a little, replying “Quite a lot.â€

 

Surprisingly, Wu Yi Fan didn’t have many onlookers when he played basketball during his school days. “When

I was young my skin was especially tan, because Guangzhou was rather sunny, as a child I really liked

swimming, and at the beach I would get very tan, I didn’t dress up and I donned a crew cut, and carried a

basketball every day.†As he spoke, Wu Yi Fan pressed down his styled hair, to show how flat his crew cut

was at that time.

 

Many idols grew up hearing the praises of others that they were handsome, but Wu Yi Fan is not one of them.

He also has rarely encountered girls passing their confession letters to him, he has always been on the quiet

side and has stuck to the same few friends, even when going to social gatherings, he would not be one to

take the initiative to mingle and make new friends. However with old friends he would always have plenty to

talk about, as a Scorpio, he seems as cold as an iceberg from afar, but once you get to know him he is as

fiery (lively) as a volcano.

 

While he was schooling he changed schools frequently, which affected his grades. When he left for Canada at

10 he had just graduated from elementary school, since he was young, he adapted to life overseas pretty

quickly. But because he went back and forth between Canada and Guangzhou many times, every time he left

he would miss many lessons, and his progress on both sides was not consistent.

 

Wu Yi Fan also shared his learning experience in China and abroad in the manner of a “Straight-A†student.

“Because mathematics is taught as a faster pace in China, when I went overseas I felt that mathematics

(there) was much easier, but English lessons were a bit more of a difficulty, when I returned to China I

couldn’t keep up with mathematics and language (Chinese), on the contrary my skill in English was an

advantage, I could ace tests without reading the textbook. So in order to maintain progress on both sides, I

had to go for tuition classes.â€

 

cr. trans. wuyifankris.com

[LeeTaeyong]

YOU LOOK SO PERFECT

[Bitchfit]

*saves pic*

[venus in converse ~]

Thanks for sharing   he's a cutie

[Queenverse]

Woow, Yifan. <3

[Krazyfrog]

Dear God this man is realy attractive inside out ...

 

Now i have to deal with higher standards for my future husband (._.)

[KissontheW1nD]

His story is so touching 

[_______]

this was really lovely to read, his story makes me respect him even more tbh, and i loved this quote:

 

“it seems like when god shuts one door, another will be opened for you.â€

 

it fits him so well

[lolnoo]

this was a nice interview and his story is really touching and bittersweet     

[Nanamiko]

I changed school 6 times before high school so I understand him a little on that front. This was nice insight into his life.

[Mrs.Galaxy]

Babe....he's so adorable

[Queenverse]

I like that photoshoot too. 

[HwangMinhyun]

*saves pic*

[everypart]

It was hard enough for me to change schools several times in my country, I can't imagine how hard it would have been for him, because he had to learn the languages and adapt to the cultures too.

[lipslocked]

 wow, amazing

[hipployta]

It's nice how he's sharing his past as an example of life taking different paths but continuing

[♥Chuu]

D'aww Kris  

I moved around a lot as a kid too, and it pained me the most to leave my friends back in Canada when I moved to the US.

But just like Kris, even after all these years, I've still kept in contact with my closest friends. In general, I only have a few friends too so "quality over quantity" is something I totally get    

[Angel_Nessa]

Really touching story. He must have felt very lonely when his mother was not around and he was living in Canada in such young age. I thought he had a part of his family living in Canada, but he said that he was left at a friend's house in Canada. 

 

He has really achieved a lot and he has lost a lot.

 

Nice interview.